India keeping a close vigil on issue, says MEA

New Delhi: Reacting to questions on the Doklam situation in the wake of various media reports of intense Chinese military activities in the vicinity of the site where India and China had a military stand-off last year, New Delhi on Friday said it was “keeping a constant vigil” on developments having a bearing on the country’s security.

India also said both sides have “established mechanisms to resolve any misunderstanding”. The Indian Government had earlier on Thursday said that the status quo at the face-off site has not been altered.

Troops of the two countries had withdrawn from the face-off site at Doklam in Bhutanese territory after a more than two month-long face-off there last year. China regards Doklam as its territory and refers to it as Donglang.

On Friday, the MEA said, “We are of course keeping a constant vigil on the developments which have a bearing on India’s security and taking all necessary steps to safeguard it. The two sides have and have used established mechanisms to resolve any misunderstanding.”

On Thursday, the MEA had said, “It may be recalled that last year, a face-off situation that had arisen in the Doklam region, was resolved following diplomatic discussions between India and China, based on which both sides arrived at an understanding for the disengagement of their border personnel at the face-off site. ... The Government would once again reiterate that the status quo at the face-off site has not been altered.”

Meanwhile, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson added, “We hope relevant parties can earnestly follow through on the consensus reached by the two leaders (Xi and Modi), move in the same direction and jointly uphold the peace and stability of the border areas and stay committed for the comprehensive development of bilateral relations.”