China to give ultimatum to India for troops withdrawal before Sept: Chinese daily

Beijing: Amid military standoff between India and its neighbour in Sikkim, Chinese media on Wednesday said China won’t let the matter drop even if India pull back its troops from Doklam as withdrawal is just the precondition, not the solution.

Chinese state-run media, Global Times, quoting a military expert Xu Guangyu said, “China will make India pay for its offensive and provocative behaviour even if India withdraws its troops as China requests”.

Xu is a retired rear admiral and senior adviser to the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association.

Stating that China isn’t in interest to disrupt the upcoming BRICS summit, which is to be held in Beijing next month, the expert said, “If India keeps its troops in Chinese territory, China's foreign and defence ministries are likely to release an ultimatum before September”.

Read: China capable of wiping out Indian troops: Chinese media on standoff

He said, “The BRICS summit should be focused on cooperation between rising economies, not an emergency multilateral meeting for conflict mediation”.

In a stern warning to India on behalf of China, the expert told Global Times, that “The ultimatum will clearly tell India and the world that China will give a certain number of days to India to withdraw its troops”.

However, “After the deadline, if Indian troops still remain within China's territory, India will be responsible for all the consequences”, Guangyu added.

Mentioning that China is much more powerful than India, the expert said in an article, “China has multiple ways of pushing India back to its own soil if India ignores the ultimatum, as a few dozen military personnel and one bulldozer is a piece of cake for the People’s Liberation Army”.

The expert urged Chinese military to prepare for the possibility of escalation, because Indian troops will resist, and if there is bloodshed, China needs to be fully prepared for military conflict.

Read: Chinese media divided over outcome of Doval's visit amid Sikkim standoff

It’s been over two months since India and China are in standoff at Doklam, a disputed tri-junction area between India-Bhutan-China. The disputed area is allegedly claimed by China as its territory; however, it basically belongs to Bhutan.

Last week, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley contended that significant progress regarding the standoff with China, has been made on this front thereafter, but did not elaborate. "Nobody should have a doubt on that," he asserted.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying on Wednesday did not directly answer a question on whether friction in Ladakh is connected to the Doklam standoff.

Meanwhile, there were media reports that some of the Chinese soldiers pelted iron rods and stones across the border and troops on both sides suffered minor injuries. However, the reports later were denied by both countries foreign ministries.