New Delhi: India on Thursday maintained that the current border stand-off in Doklam would be resolved diplomatically like it had solved all its disputes with Beijing in the past using diplomatic channels. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said diplomatic channels were “available” to the two countries that would continue to be used.
He referred to a “conversation” between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg last week “where they spoke over a range of issues”.
“As far as the Doklam issue is concerned, you know we have diplomatic channels. Embassies are there in both the countries and those channels will continue to be used,” Baglay said in his weekly media briefing.
China and India are locked in a standoff in the Doklam area in Sikkim sector near the Bhutan tri-junction for over three weeks after the Chinese army attempted to build a road in the disputed narrow stretch of land. Doklam is the Indian name for the region which China refers to as Donglong.
Asked about the provocative statements from China and the Chinese media over the border issue, the spokesperson said the government had “clearly laid out” its position and approach to deal with the matter.
“We have referred to how the two governments have been engaged in the last few years in addressing this issue, the boundary matter and the tri-junction. We have also mentioned understandings between the two countries,” he said.
Baglay referred to Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar’s speech in Singapore earlier this week when he said India and China have handled their border issues in the past and there was no reason why they would not be able to deal with it this time.
Asked if Modi and Xi particularly talked about the Doklam issue, Baglay refused a direct reply saying: “I would leave it to your imagination and common sense to summarise what can be covered in the range of issues.”
