China: “Withdraw troops immediately or face consequences”

New Delhi: China is threatening India with consequences if the Indian Government does not decide on withdrawing its troops from the six weeks long Sikkim stand-off.

A senior Chinese diplomat on Thursday reportedly said India must withdraw troops on the Doklam plateau or “face consequences”.

The serious warning over the month long Sikkim standoff near the Bhutan- China trijunction, China is boldly declaring war against India.

“The crossing of the boundary line by Indian troops into the territory of China using the pretext of security concerns for a 3rd party (Bhutan) is illegal,” said Liu Jinsong, Chinese Deputy Chief of Mission.

He threatens by further adding that “The troops should be withdrawn immediately, otherwise there will be serious consequences.”

The diplomat refused from elaborating on ‘consequences’ India will be facing or to what measures China is planning against India, he said “intruding into your neighbours house, and demanding the neighbour leave to ensure your withdrawal”, quoting Chinese President Xi Jinping statement he added “Military option is the fundamental guarantor of sovereignty.”

The 15-page statement that was published on Wednesday claimed the Indian troops were reduced from to 400 to 40, to which the Indian Government refutes saying no such change took place.

Mr Liu claimed that the Chinese army on Thursday had exactly counted to 48 Indian soldiers. “Even one Indian soldier violating Chinese sovereignty is too many,” he continued, “We cannot bear that for another hour, another day, and they must be pulled out immediately.”

The Chinese diplomat said that India was previously notified about the Chinese Governments intention to reconstruct the road which China believes as its own territory on two occasions that is not May 18 and June 8.

He said that they made their intentions clear and it was “very shocking” to see Indian troops on the disputed territory.

The diplomat also alleged that the Indian Government never came to the rescue of the Bhutanese troops in the area as it claimed.

When asked about whether China is now embarrassed after the Bhutan Foreign Ministry’s statement of June 30th, which said the Chinese road construction activity in the disputed area is a “direct violation” of previous agreements, Mr. Liu replied, “From the Bhutanese statement, nothing reflects that the Bhutanese side invited or knew before hand that India would send troops. Even if we accept a difference of view between China and Bhutan, we have many mechanisms to resolve them bilaterally.”

When Bhutan was asked about China’s comments, the Bhutan Ambassador to India V. Namgyal told he would not comment on the remarks by the Chinese diplomat saying there was “nothing further to add” to the official statement released.

The MEA too refused to add anything to its statement which said: “peace and tranquility in the India-China border areas is an important pre-requisite for smooth development of our bilateral relations with China.”