Beijing reiterates demand for “withdrawal of Indian troops” in the Doklam as a pre-condition for talks.

With India and China asserting that no bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping had been scheduled on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting in Germany, there was no immediate prospect of an end to the continuing boundary standoff between the two countries.

“The Prime Minister is visiting Hamburg from 6-8 July for the G-20 summit. His pre-planned bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Summit are with Argentina, Canada, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, U.K. and Vietnam,” said Gopal Baglay, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Afairs (MEA), in response to a query.

Mr. Baglay said Mr. Modi will participate in the BRICS Leaders’ meeting which will be held a day before the main summit, on July 7.





Activists wear masks depicting some of the world leaders during a demonstration at the harbour in Hamburg on July 6, 2017 ahead of the G20 summit. | Photo Credit: Reuters

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang, however, said the necessary information would be shared in a timely manner, when asked about the possibility of a bilateral meeting at the BRICS event.

Unusual step

It is unusual for any country to announce that no bilateral meeting had been scheduled as both leaders have met in several multilateral meetings in the last three years.

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The MEA’s confirmation about not having a bilateral meeting with China came despite earlier reports that indicated that the Indian and Chinese leaders would meet on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Hamburg where both will be present.

Earlier on Thursday, news reports from Beijing said that the meeting would not be possible as the “atmosphere was not right.”

Mr. Geng said that “India can immediately withdraw the border troops to the Indian side of the boundary to uphold the peace/tranquillity of the China and India border areas”, as a “pre-condition for essential peace talks.”

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The ongoing bilateral tension erupted over Chinese construction in the Doklam area at the India-Bhutan-China tri-junction. Mr. Modi and Mr. Xi last met in Astana on June 9 during the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). During the meeting, Mr. Xi had described the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra as a positive aspect of bilateral ties.

However, following the Doklam controversy, the pilgrimage on the Sikkim route was stopped as the Chinese refused to allow Indian pilgrims to use the Nathu La pass.