China asks India again to pull back from Doklam

​Beijing: China on Wednesday again asked India to pull back troops from Doklam in the Sikkim sector to "avoid worsening of the situation".

Amid the continuing border stand-off, China also accused India of "misleading" the public by saying that Chinese had built a road near the Siliguri corridor in the Sikkim sector. It also said that India had "trampled on" the Panchsheel pact by "illegally entering" Chinese territory.

China, which has so far has cited maps, official letters and released pictures to claim Doklam, which it calls Donglong, as its own territory, said the region was never at the tri-junction of India, China, and Bhutan.

"In disregard of the 1890 Sino-Britain convention, the Indian side said that Doklam is located within the tri-junction of the three countries, that is misleading the public," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Gen Shuang told reporters here.

Geng reiterated that withdrawal of troops by India from the Doklam was a precondition for dialogue between both sides. Indian and Chinese troops have been engaged in a stand-off in Doklam on the Sikkim sector.

Beijing has asked New Delhi to withdraw troops, reiterating it as a precondition to settle the stand-off in India's Sikkim sector, where the two countries share a little over 200 km of border.

"The 1890 convention said the Sikkim section of the boundary commences from the East mountain and the incident (road construction) took place about 2,000 meters away from Mount Gipmochi," Geng asserted. India has opposed China's road construction in Doklam, which is a disputed territory between Thimphu and Beijing.

Beijing says the road building is on Chinese territory. Bhutan has opposed it, and says the ownership of Doklam is yet to be decided.

"Although the boundary between the two countries (China and Bhutan) is yet to be settled, we have basic consensus on the boundary," the spokesperson said.