This Article is From Dec 19, 2017

Ahead Of Crucial India-China Meet, Beijing Raises Doklam Again

Later this week, the 20th round of India-China border talks are expected to be held in Delhi between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and China's State Councillor Yang Jiechi. Though the talks - officially the first since the stand-off - are scheduled for December 22, an official announcement is yet to be made from both sides.

Ahead Of Crucial India-China Meet, Beijing Raises Doklam Again

The Doklam standoff ended on August 28 following mutual agreement between India and China.

New Delhi: Days before a crucial meet between Indian and Chinese diplomats, Beijing said the Doklam stand-off had posed a "major test" for bilateral ties with India and lessons should be learnt from it to avoid a similar situation in future.

"In 2017, China-India relations have maintained a good momentum generally but the Doklam incident posed a major test for the two countries. We should learn lessons from this incident to avoid any further conflict of this kind in the future," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India. "We should follow our historical conventions on the border to uphold the tranquility and peace in the border region," he added.

Later this week, the 20th round of India-China border talks are expected to be held in Delhi between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and China's State Councillor Yang Jiechi. Though the talks - officially the first since the stand-off - are scheduled for December 22, an official announcement is yet to be made from both sides.

Mr Hua said Doklam also figured during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's talks with Union minister Sushma Swaraj. The Chinese minister was in Delhi recently to take part in the meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia, India and China.

The Chinese Army had earlier asked India to draw lessons from Doklam. "We remind India to draw lessons from the standoff... and work with China to safeguard peace and stability along the border," Wu Qian, a senior officer of the People's Liberation Army had said in August, days after the stand-off ended.

Days later, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said such issues should be put in perspective and appropriately handled and India should learn from it. "There is huge potential for cooperation between China and India," Mr Wang said. "We're hoping that their side will learn lessons from this incident and prevent some of the things from happening again."

The stand-off in Doklam - an uninhabited area claimed by both China and Bhutan - had started in mid-June. Indian troops had intervened when China had started building a road in the area as it would have given Beijing access to Chicken's Neck, a strategic wedge of land that links mainland India to its northeastern region.

With inputs from PTI
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