New Delhi: India on Wednesday said that tranquillity along the India-China border was an important prerequisite for a peaceful relationship with China against the backdrop of a tense military standoff between countries on the Doklam plateau in the Sikkim sector.

Without joining issue with China, which released a 15-page fact sheet on the Sikkim standoff accusing India of “inventing various excuses" to justify what the Chinese calls “illegal" crossing into Chinese territory, the Indian foreign ministry statement said that New Delhi had previously enunciated its position on the issue—i.e. that China had intruded into Bhutanese territory which was aimed at changing the status quo along the India-Bhutan-China tri-junction that India and China had agreed to settle taking into account Bhutanese concerns as well, as per a 2012 agreement.

The Chinese action had consequences for India’s national security, New Delhi had said.

India’s fresh statement in response to the Chinese 15-page fact sheet was essentially a one liner without rebutting Beijing point by point.

“India considers that peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas is an important prerequisite for smooth development of our bilateral relations with China," it said.

China’s fact sheet and India’s response to it came on a day when it emerged that a meeting between special representatives of India and China on the border dispute last week did not yield any breakthrough on the military standoff in Doklam, according to a PTI report from Beijing.

China said it has conveyed its firm stand to India that it must take “concrete actions" by immediately pulling back troops from the Doklam plateau with “no strings attached" to resolve the standoff. The Chinese position was conveyed to India’a national security adviser Ajit Doval during his meeting with state councillor Yang Jiechi last month, the PTI report said.

Doval and Jiechi are special representatives of India and China, respectively, for the border talks between the two countries. Doval was in Beijing last month for a meeting of the national security advisers of the BRICS countries.

Yang held a bilateral meeting with Doval “at his request and in accordance with the practice", PTI quoted the Chinese foreign ministry as saying, about the discussions relating to the standoff at Doklam which began when China started constructing a road in the area. India objected to the road construction after Chinese troops ignored Bhutanese protests, triggering the standoff from 16 June.

“Yang Jiechi expressed China’s stern positions and explicit requirements on the trespass of Indian border troops into China’s territory at the Sikkim section of China-India boundary," the Chinese foreign ministry said.

Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognizes as Doklam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region. Of the 3,488km India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim—situated across Dokalam. India and China have a dispute over their boundaries dating back to the 1962 war and are in talks to resolve their differences.

The Chinese foreign ministry’s 15-page fact sheet with maps and other details about the standoff since it began on 16 June.

The fact sheet said on June 18 about 270 Indian troops entered more than 100 metres into Chinese territory to “obstruct the road building of the Chinese side, causing tension in the area". “Over 400 people at one point, have put up three tents and advanced over 180 metres into the Chinese territory," it said. “As of the end of July, there were still over 40 Indian border troops and one bulldozer illegally staying in the Chinese territory," it said.

The fact sheet said the standoff occurred in an area where there is a clear and delimited boundary. “This makes it fundamentally different from past frictions between the border troops of the two sides" it said.

“The China-Bhutan boundary issue is one between China and Bhutan. It has nothing to do with India. As a third party, India has no right to interfere in or impede the boundary talks between China and Bhutan, still less the right to make territorial claims on Bhutan’s behalf," it added.

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