No change in status quo at Doklam face-off site, says Ministry of External Affairs

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday dismissed reports of Chinese troops regathering near Doklam and said that the status quo at the face-off site has not been altered.

Ravish Kumar, spokesperson of MEA said, “Government would once again reiterate that the status quo at the face-off site has not been altered. Any suggestion to the contrary is inaccurate and mischievous.”

“In response to repeated questions about any change in the status quo at the face-off site, Government had stated that there was no basis for such imputations," added Kumar.

The MEA spokesperson made the statement after some media houses reported about China apparently taking control of the northern side of Doklam Plateau by building permanent military structures.

Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Wednesday had said that the Chinese military had carried out “temporary” buildups in Doklam — the site of a tense standoff between the two countries last year — after media reports cited satellite images to say that the infrastructure included a “full-fledged” PLA base.

“The Chinese military had carried out some infrastructure development in the Doklam area earlier. All of it is temporary in nature," said Army chief Bipin Rawat during ‘Raisina Dialogue.’