Amid a continuing standoff on the Sikkim border between India and China, Beijing on Wednesday accused New Delhi of “trampling” on the principles of the Panchsheel Pact, PTI reported. China also demanded that India “correct its mistakes” by pulling back its troops immediately.
Beijing further claimed that New Delhi was “misleading the public” by saying that Chinese troops were building a road in the Sikkim sector. “I want to point that the relevant actions by the Indian side violated the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter in defiance of the international law and international norms. As we all know that in the 1950s China, India and Myanmar proposed the five principles [Panchsheel] of co-existence,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told reporters in Beijing.
Geng claimed that instead, India “trampled on the basic norms governing international relations” proposed by itself, by “illegally crossing” into another country’s territory. Geng described the alleged act of transgression by Indian troops as “very serious”. He said the incident violates the Special Representatives mechanism set up by the two countries to solve border disputes.
Calling on India to withdraw its troops immediately so that normal bilateral relations could resume, Geng asked, “If the Indian side refuses to correct its mistakes in a timely fashion, how it proposes to win the trust of its neighbours and how it is supposed to play a bigger role in the international affairs?”
The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson also claimed that the incident has nothing to do with the tri-junction between China, India and Bhutan. He asserted that India had falsely stated that Doklam is located within the tri-junction of the three countries.
The spokesperson claimed that former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had endorsed the 1890 Sino-British convention on Sikkim in a letter to his Chinese counterpart Zhou Enlai in 1959. This had been followed by a note to the Chinese government in February 1960 by the Indian embassy, which again endorsed it, he said.
The Sikkim standoff
India and China have both maintained that troops from the other country transgressed into their territory. Bilateral ties have been strained since the Indian Army blocked construction of the road by China in Doklam area. New Delhi has made it clear that it will not allow China to construct a motorable road up to the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction through the Doklam plateau. The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through the Nathu La pass in Sikkim was also cancelled amid the continuing standoff.
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