India ready to combat any unforeseen situation in Doklam, says Nirmala Sitharaman

Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said that India is ready to combat any unforeseen situation in Doklam and will maintain its territorial integrity at any cost. 

The Defence minister's comments come ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to China in June.

Talking to reporters in Dehradun, Sitharaman said that the government is on high alert and constantly working on the modernization of our forces.

Sitharaman's comments came after Indian envoy Gautam Bambawale rubbished reports suggesting fresh Chinese troop build-up in Doklam saying the status quo remains “unchanged”.

 “No, I can tell you that in Doklam area, which we call close proximity or sometimes the face-off site, the area where there was close confrontation or close proximity between Indian and Chinese military troops, there is no change taking place today, he said while speaking to a Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.

Earlier, Nirmala Sitharaman had said that India has established a process of engagements with China at various levels. And I don’t think that Doklam will be repeated. We need to be alert and conscious at the border every minute. Anytime anything can happen at the border. She was speaking at News 18 Rising India Summit.

However, it is also learned that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also likely to visit China. It was earlier reported that China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is involved in massive road construction and infrastructure build-up near the face-off site in Doklam.