China has urged India to recall troops who crossed over the China-India boundary at the Sikkim section, after India’s foreign secretary said that India and China can manage the differences over their contested border.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang stressed on Wednesday that the Sikkim section has a history and is a defined section of the China-India border, according to China’s prestigious English daily, Global Times.
“The Sikkim section of the China-India boundary was defined by the Convention between Great Britain and China Relating to Sikkim and Tibet in 1890. The section has been recognized by both China and India and this convention holds true for both countries,” Geng said.
The Sikkim section is the only defined boundary between India and China, and is totally different from the undefined boundary in the east, middle and west parts, Geng said.
“China has repeatedly pointed out that the illegal trespass of Indian border troops of the mutually recognized border is different in nature from the frictions in the undefined sections of the boundary,” Geng added.
He urged India to unconditionally withdraw its troops to the Indian side of the boundary.
A day earlier, S. Jaishankar said that the two countries can handle the disputes like they did so many times before, as “no part of the border has been agreed upon.”
