China talks tough, but hope of Doklam thaw. ....

Picture for representation only.

HIGHLIGHTS
There were indications that the Chinese could be winding down their offensive posture on the plateau.
Sushma Swaraj rejected the charge about India being the aggressor.
She said China triggered the crisis by violating a written understanding between the two sides of December 2012.
NEW DELHI: Amid signs of the thinning of its troops on the Doklam plateau and India's willingness to reciprocate, China on Friday escalated its rhetoric over the standoff, warning India of "serious consequences" if it did not pull back its troops.
Sources in government said there were indications that the Chinese could be winding down their offensive posture on the plateau where they had brought troops and heavy machinery to build a road on Bhutanese territory.

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China talks tough, but hope of Doklam thaw
TNN | Updated: Aug 4, 2017, 01:34AM IST

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Picture for representation only.
HIGHLIGHTS
There were indications that the Chinese could be winding down their offensive posture on the plateau.
Sushma Swaraj rejected the charge about India being the aggressor.
She said China triggered the crisis by violating a written understanding between the two sides of December 2012.
NEW DELHI: Amid signs of the thinning of its troops on the Doklam plateau and India's willingness to reciprocate, China on Friday escalated its rhetoric over the standoff, warning India of "serious consequences" if it did not pull back its troops.
Sources in government said there were indications that the Chinese could be winding down their offensive posture on the plateau where they had brought troops and heavy machinery to build a road on Bhutanese territory.

They also said diplomatic efforts to resolve the standoff had achieved satisfactory progress, but hastened to add that it would be premature to rush to a judgment about China's intent. "They appeared to have lowered the ante on the ground, but we are keeping our fingers crossed," a senior official told TOI, making it clear that India would not relent on its demand for simultaneous withdrawal by both countries.

TOI
GET APP
INDIA
AA
China talks tough, but hope of Doklam thaw
TNN | Updated: Aug 4, 2017, 01:34AM IST

WhatsappFacebookGoogle PlusTwitterEmailLinkedinSMS
SHARE

Picture for representation only.
HIGHLIGHTS
There were indications that the Chinese could be winding down their offensive posture on the plateau.
Sushma Swaraj rejected the charge about India being the aggressor.
She said China triggered the crisis by violating a written understanding between the two sides of December 2012.
NEW DELHI: Amid signs of the thinning of its troops on the Doklam plateau and India's willingness to reciprocate, China on Friday escalated its rhetoric over the standoff, warning India of "serious consequences" if it did not pull back its troops.
Sources in government said there were indications that the Chinese could be winding down their offensive posture on the plateau where they had brought troops and heavy machinery to build a road on Bhutanese territory.

They also said diplomatic efforts to resolve the standoff had achieved satisfactory progress, but hastened to add that it would be premature to rush to a judgment about China's intent. "They appeared to have lowered the ante on the ground, but we are keeping our fingers crossed," a senior official told TOI, making it clear that India would not relent on its demand for simultaneous withdrawal by both countries.

The caution was vindicated during the course of the day with Liu Jinsong, China's deputy chief of mission here, resorting to belligerence while putting across his country's stand to a group of reporters. "The crossing of the boundary line by Indian troops into the territory of China using the pretext of security concern for a third party (Bhutan) is illegal. The troops should be withdrawn immediately, otherwise there will be serious consequences," reports quoted the diplomat as saying.

Liu refrained from elaborating upon what the consequences would be but, according to reports, quoted Chinese President Xi Jinping's observation, "Military option is the fundamental guarantor of sovereignty."

The deputy chief of mission also repeated the claim made on Wednesday by China's foreign ministry in Beijing that India had reduced the number of its troops at Doklam from 400 to just 40.
Speaking afterwards in Rajya Sabha, foreign minister Sushma Swaraj rejected the charge about India being the aggressor. She was firm in stating that it was China which had triggered the crisis by violating a written understanding between the two sides of December 2012. "The trijunction boundary points between India, China and third countries will be finalised in consultation with concerned countries. Since 2012, we have not held any discussion on the trijunction with Bhutan," Swaraj said, quoting from the 2012 understanding.
She further said the Chinese action in Doklam was a cause of concern. "Our concerns emanate from Chinese action on the ground which have implications for the determination of the trijunction boundary point between India, China and Bhutan and the alignment of the India-China boundary in the Sikkim sector," Swaraj stressed

Sources in the government dismissed China's claim that India had pulled back most of its troops and reiterated that mutual withdrawal of troops alone could lead to resolution of the stand-off. "We are not spoiling for a confrontation. We responded to the arrival of their troops in Doklam because we had to show our commitment to the security treaty with Bhutan and because we could not let the Chinese come to the edge of the Siliguri corridor," the source said, referring to the vulnerability of the narrow strip of land which connects the northeastern states to the mainland. The senior source added that the two objectives could be met only if the Chinese went back.
Officials here have refused to be baited by China's high-pitched rhetoric — something which they attribute to Beijing's necessity to condition the country for a de-escalation, lest they appear to have blinked in a military face-off in the lead-up to the crucial 19th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party scheduled in October.
The restraint is seen as essential for keeping open the room for diplomacy. Responding to the lengthy statement from Beijing on Wednesday, New Delhi confined itself to repeating its statement of June 30 in a two-sentence response. Bhutan, too, referred everyone to its statement of June 29. Top level sources here said India did not want to get into a slanging match with China, even though Indian troops are holding their ground in Doklam.
National security advisor Ajit Doval's meeting with his counterpart Yang Jiechi in Beijing last week resulted in a diplomatic opening between the two sides. Doval is believed to have clarified that India would seek a diplomatic solution to the crisis but would hold firm on the ground. In the midst of Chinese rhetoric, however, there are distinct signs that the temperature is coming down on the ground.
A resolution may still be a long way away but officials from both sides are at work to hammer out the contours of any understanding the two sides may have. "You will know when the crisis has been resolved," a government source said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to travel to Xiamen for the BRICS summit in September, which will be the second time he and Xi would be meeting since the Doklam crisis broke. Neither side will disrupt the multilateral summit, and will keep the problem confined to the bilateral realm.