BEIJING, Jan 15: China on Monday hit out at Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat for calling Dokalam a disputed territory and said that his “unconstructive” comments were not helpful for maintaining peace at the borders.
In an angry rebuttal to Gen Rawat’s comments, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said his comments went against the consensus reached between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping at the BRICS summit last September to bring ties back on track and preserve peace on the border.
The Chinese reaction came following comments by Gen Rawat two days ago that India needs to shift focus from its border with Pakistan to that of China and spoke of pressure being exerted by Beijing along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
“Last year, India-China relations have witnessed some twists and turns,” Lu said and referred to Modi-Xi consensus and the high-level talks since December to improve the ties.
“The dialogue and consultation have shown sound momentum of improvement and development,” he said.
“Under such background, the unconstructive remarks by the Indian senior official (Gen Rawat) not only go against the consensus reached by the two heads of state but also do not conform to the efforts made by the two sides to improve and develop bilateral relations,” Lu said.
The remarks “cannot help to preserve the tranquility and peace at the border areas,” areas he said.
Asked what Gen Rawat’s specific comments were that China is taking exception to, Lu pointed to the Indian Army chief’s remarks on Dokalam wherein he said it is a disputed territory between Bhutan and China. (PTI)
