Withdraw, says China Foreign Minister

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has claimed that the “Indian side...admitted” to entering Chinese territory, the first time a top leader of the country has weighed in on the protracted stand-off in the Sikkim area.

Mr. Wang’s brief comments, made in Bangkok on Monday, were reported on his Ministry’s website on Tuesday. But they provided no justification for his claim.

‘Wrongs are clear’

“The rights and wrongs are very clear,” he said, adding that even senior Indian officials had openly stated that Chinese troops did not enter into the Indian territory.

However, he did not say which officials had said that or where. He went on to say: “In other words, the Indian side admitted to entering the Chinese territory.”

It was not clear how the reported comments by the unnamed Indian officials led him to conclude that India was admitting to border transgression. The Foreign Ministry website quoted Mr. Wang as saying that the “solution to this problem is very simple: conscientiously withdraw.”

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It is the first time that such a senior person in the Chinese hierarchy has commented on the dispute, which has been dominated by shrill rhetoric in the state-owned media with almost daily commentaries attacking India with nationalistic warnings.

There was no immediate reaction from the Indian government.

The Chinese media commentaries and the Foreign Ministry spokesmen have demanded that India withdraw its troops from Doklam in the southernmost part of Tibet, in an area also claimed by Bhutan.

Chinese and Indian troops have been locked in a face-off in the tri-junction for more than a month since Indian troops stopped the Chinese Army from building a road in the area.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told Parliament last week that both sides should first pull back their troops for talks to take place, favouring a peaceful resolution of the stand-off.

Ms. Swaraj said the “unilateral” Chinese action to change the status quo near the tri-junction posed a challenge to India’s security. The issue is expected to be discussed during the visit of Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval to Beijing for a meeting of the NSAs of the BRICS countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — on July 27 and 28.

However, continuing its rhetoric, the Global Times, which is part of the Communist Party’s publication group, on Tuesday described Mr. Doval as one of the “main schemers” of the dispute, adding that his visit would not sway Beijing.

At the same time, China Daily, another government newspaper, pressed for ways to avoid a confrontation, adding that “it’s never too late for India to mend its way.”

Mr. Doval is expected to discuss the stand-off with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi. Both officials are also the Special Representatives of their countries for the boundary talks.

“There are still hopes that the deadlock can be resolved peacefully, which serves both countries’ best interests,” China Daily said.