Exile Tibetans shout slogans during a protest to show support with India on Doklam standoff in New Delhi, India, on 11 August 2017. Tensions between Indian and China flared last month in the southernmost part of Tibet, in an area also claimed by Indian ally Bhutan, after Chinese teams began building a road onto the Doklam Plateau. The banner in local language reads Tibet's independence is India's security. AP/Tsering Topgyal

AP

Dozens of Tibetan exiles on Friday held a rally in New Delhi in support of India in the ongoing border standoff with Chinese forces over disputed territory high in the Himalayas.

The Tibetan Youth Congress members waved Indian and Tibetan flags and demanded that China leave Tibet.

“The border of China where they stand, it belongs to Tibetans. This is why we are standing with India,” said Tashi Dhondup, the group’s spokesman, adding that China was “illegally occupying” the area.

The standoff began in June after Indian troops confronted Chinese forces working on a road over the Doklam Plateau that is also claimed by India’s ally Bhutan.

China demands that Indian troops withdraw unilaterally before any talks can be held, while New Delhi says each side should stand down. China and India fought a border war in 1962 and much of their frontier remains unsettled despite several rounds of official-level talks.

A large number of Tibetans have been living in exile in India since the Dalai Lama fled Tibet after a failed uprising in 1959.