New Delhi: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday told the media reporters that India is ready for an unforeseen situation in Dokhlam as compared to the previous standoff at Dokhlam in 2017.
She was addressing a press conference in Dehradun where she said, “We are alert and ready for any unforeseen situation in Doklam… we are constantly working on the modernization of our forces and will maintain our territorial integrity.”
Recently, India’s Ambassador to China Gautam Bambawale in an interview said any attempts made by China to change the status quo of the faceoff area would lead to another Dohklam Standoff and the only way to avoid that can be only maintained with frank talks with China.
He said, “No, I can tell you that in Doklam area, which we call close proximity or sometimes the face-off site, the area where there was close confrontation or close proximity between Indian and Chinese military troops, there is no change taking place today,” said Gautam Bambawale.
In March, the Defence Minister had undertaken in Rajya Sabha about China’s increasing attempts near the faceoff in Dokhlam area like “construction of some infrastructure, including sentry posts, trenches and helipads.”
She was replying to the question whether are there any satellite images of seven helipads constructed in Doklam available that shows China’s increasing efforts in the faceoff area Sitharaman replied, “Post disengagement from the face-off in 2017, troops of both sides have redeployed themselves away from their respective positions at the face-off site. The strength of both sides have been reduced.”
She also said border issues with China are regularly taken up with China through diplomatic channels and at Border Personnel Meetings, flag meetings and meetings of Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs.
PM Narendra Modi is expected to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, to be held in Qingdao, which is scheduled for June 9 and 10. The summit is likely to hold a bilateral meeting between the two counterparts, DC reported.