China must respect border pact, says India

New Delhi: In a veiled but clear message to China that the boundary in the Sikkim sector was not yet finalised, India on Thursday said it was important that the understanding reached between the Indian and Chinese special representatives (SRs) for the settlement of the boundary question was “scrupulously” respected by both sides and that each side projected the position of the other accurately. The assertion came in response to a query on the Chinese foreign ministry’s reported statement, according to news agency reports, that claimed that Sikkim section of the China-India border has been demarcated as per the 1890 treaty between China and British India. The Chinese claim was made on Sunday, a day after defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman made her maiden visit to the Nathu La post in Sikkim. Beijing has been claiming that the China-India boundary in the Sikkim Sector has already been delimited.

“We have seen...The reports and the comments. Negotiations for the settlement of the India-China boundary question are held at the level of special representatives of the two countries, based on agreements and understandings reached between them from time to time,” the ministry of external affairs spokesperson said on Thursday evening. “The most recent common understanding between the special representatives was reached in 2012. It is important that these understandings are scrupulously respected by both sides,” he asserted.

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had earlier told Parliament, “With regard to the boundary in the Sikkim sector there are still steps to be covered before the boundary is finalised.”

This understanding has been reflected in the Common Understanding of December 2012 in point number 12 which states that ‘There is mutual agreement on the basis of the alignment of the India China boundary in the Sikkim sector as provided by the convention between China and Great Britain relating to Tibet and Sikkim signed in 1890’. During the Eighth Special Representatives meeting in June 2006, the Chinese side had in fact handed over a non-paper for separate agreement on the boundary in Sikkim sector. The non-paper had proposed that ‘Both sides may, based on the above mentioned historical treaty i.e. 1890 Convention verify and determine the specific alignment of the Sikkim sector and produce a common record’.”

She had added, “On this basis as the initial result of the boundary settlement both sides may negotiate a final agreement on the boundary alignment in the Sikkim sector to replace the historical treaty. Subsequently in the Special Representatives meeting the Chinese side has made the proposal for finalising the boundary in Sikkim sector terming it as an early harvest of the SR process thus clearly confirming that the boundary in the Sikkim sector is not yet finalised.”