Doklam dispute | China denies any offer to relocate troops

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday rejected all reports of it ever offering a compromise to India by relocating its troops in the disputed Doklam border area.

Reacting to a report where China had allegedly offered to move its troops back 100 meters, after India sought the pullback of Chinese troops by 250 metres, the Spokesperson's Office told China Daily that the report is not true, adding that "China will not trade its territorial sovereignty under any circumstances."

"China's position on solving this incident is clear and firm. India must immediately and unconditionally withdraw all its trespassing troops and equipment back to the Indian side of the border," the Ministry said in a statement.

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China could never accept India's "totally unreasonable" demand, said Zhao Xiaozhuo, a researcher at the PLA Academy of Military Science told China Daily, adding that India had honored the convention until Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration refused.

Earlier this month, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that India's 'intrusion' had not only violated China's territorial sovereignty but also challenged Bhutan's sovereignty and independence.

However, the Government of Bhutan on Thursday pointedly refuted a Chinese Foreign Ministry claim that Bhutan had conveyed through diplomatic channels to China that the trilateral border stand-off area in Doklam in the Sikkim sector is not its territory.

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