Indian troop withdrawal in the Sikkim sector a precondition for dialogue, says Beijing

China on Monday denied a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Hamburg.

It stuck to its guns that the withdrawal of Indian troops to the Indian side' of the boundary in the Sikkim sector was the precondition for a dialogue.

In response to a question on the meeting between Mr. Xi and Mr. Modi in Hamburg during an informal gathering of the BRICS nations, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said: “President Xi Jinping attended the G20 summit in Hamburg. On the sidelines of the G20, President Xi presided over the informal BRICS leaders [meeting] and Prime Minister Modi and other leaders of the BRICS countries attended that event. According to my information, the two leaders did not hold any bilateral meeting.”

Asked to clarify whether “no meeting” or “no structured meeting” took place in Hamburg, in the light of a picture showing an interaction between the two leadeers, as posted on the Twitter handle of Gopal Baglay, spokesperson of the Ministry of the External Affairs, Mr. Geng said: “As I said many times, the two leaders did not hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the G-20 summit. But President Xi chaired the informal BRICS leaders meeting during which Prime Minister Modi was also present.”

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In a tweet from Hamburg, Mr. Baglay said: “At the BRICS leaders' informal gathering at Hamburg hosted by China, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi had a conversation on a range of issues.”

In response to another question seeking clarification on whether a “bilateral meeting”, or a “conversation” took place between the two leaders, Mr. Geng stuck to his stock answer: “I can tell you that there were no bilateral meetings between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Modi in Hamburg.”

Mr. Geng, during his regular briefings, had called for the withdrawal of Indian border personnel to the Indian side of the boundary as “the precondition for any meaningful dialogue”.

He said he could not confirm the veracity of Indian media reports stating that Indian troops were engaged in a standoff with the Chinese forces in the Doklam area were preparing for the “long haul”.

“If they [the reports] are true that can only prove that the illegal trespass by the Indian side is organised and deliberate. They are intended to destroy and damage the status quo, on the boundary area of China and India. So how can the diplomatic solutions happen under such circumstances?''