Beijing, June 28: Amid a standoff in the Sikkim sector of the border, China Wednesday warned India that future visits of its pilgrims to Kailash Mansarovar through the Nathu La pass will depend on whether it will “correct its errors”.
Beijing also termed the construction of a road in the Sikkim sector of the Sino-India border as “legitimate”, asserting that it was being built on Chinese territory that neither belongs to India nor Bhutan and no other country had the right to interfere.
“Donglang is part of China’s territory. This is indisputable. The Donglang area belonged to China since ancient times and it doesn’t belong to Bhutan,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told the media here.
“India wants to raise an issue with this part. I should say it doesn’t belong to Bhutan, nor it belongs to India. So we have complete legal basis for this. Chinese construction of the road project is legitimate and normal action on its territory. No other country has the right to interfere,” he said while replying to a question.
Lu defended China’s decision to shut the Nathu La pass in Sikkim for Indian pilgrims, saying that China had agreed to open the route as the boundary there has been delineated with the consent of both the countries.
“For a long time in the interest of India-China relations, China provided great conveniences to the Indian pilgrims. Based on the consensus between the two countries’ leaders, and on the fact that the Sikkim sector boundary is delineated and recognised by two countries, the Chinese side in 2015 opened the Nathu La pass for Indian pilgrims,” he said. For two years it worked well and in fact this year also the Chinese authorities had prepared for the reception of Indian pilgrims and informed the Indian side about it, Lu said.
“Now the suspension of the same is an emergency response to the situation there. I want to stress that the resumption of pilgrims pass requires necessary atmosphere and conditions. So the liability of the same totally lies with the Indian side and when it will be reopened depends on when or whether the Indian side will correct its errors,” he said.
PTI
