China on Wednesday released a long detail detailing its stand on the border stand off with India and demanding that Indian troops withdraw from ‘ Chinese territory’ . India’s Ministry of External Affairs reacted by merely stating that there had been no shift in its position and that Indian troops continued to camp at Doklam.

Around 400 Indian and 400 Chinese soldiers, claimed these sources, were staring at each other at the border. India, officials pointed out, was bound by its treaty with Bhutan to protect the kingdom. And Chinese troops had not only invaded disputed territory in Bhutan but its road-building activity posed serious security implications for India.

The United States last month had called upon China and India to sort out the dispute through bilateral dialogue. It was also hoped that the visit to Beijing by National security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval late last month to attend a BRICS summit would help break the ice. But evidently the visit has not had any effect on the Chinese stand, which appears to have hardened, if the explanatory note put up by the Chinese embassy on its website is any indication.

Extracts from the Chinese note

* Since 18 June, the Indian border troops have illegally crossed the China-India boundary in the Sikkim Sector and entered the Chinese territory. This is an undeniable fact. The incident 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 in areas with undelimited boundary.

*The Indian border troops’ crossing of the already delimited boundary is a very serious incident, as it violates China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, contravenes the 1890 Convention and the UN Charter, and tramples grossly on the basic principles of international law and basic norms governing international relations.

* Since the incident broke out, India has invented various excuses to justify its illegal action, but its arguments have no factual or legal grounds at all and are simply untenable.