Dokalam standoff: Coordinating with Bhutan, talking to China, says India

NEW DELHI: India on Friday said it continues to engage with China diplomatically and has been talking with Bhutan to find a solution to the Dokalam standoff. “We continue to engage with China through diplomatic channels to find a mutually acceptable solution,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said.

Asked about China’s claim of India reducing its troops from 400 to 40 in Doka La, he refused to give a direct reply, calling it an operational matter. “Our objective is to achieve peace and tranquillity and it will be achieved through diplomacy,” Baglay said.

The defence ministry has denied that there has been any reduction in troops in Dokalam and maintains that 350-400 soldiers from either side are deployed in the area.

Baglay also said India has been holding continuous consultation with Bhutan. The stand-off is at the Indo-China-Bhutan trijunction and India has decried China’s efforts to address a trilateral manner through bilateral means sidestepping 2012 pact on all trijunctions along the LAC. It was agreed all such trijunction points would be negotiated between the three parties.

Disappointed over China stalling the move to list Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN, Baglay hoped that countries sharing its concerns over terrorism would cooperate in fighting all forms of terror.

Continuing with its rhetoric, China on Friday warned that its “restraint” has limits.