Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 13

The India-China war of words continued today with India hitting back at Beijing for its offer to mediate between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue. India pointed out that its position remains unchanged and that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan. On the ongoing crisis in Doklam, India maintained that diplomatic channels between the two countries remain open.India went a step further, with a spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs saying that cross-border terrorism was the main issue between India and Pakistan. Terrorism was impacting peace and stability in the entire region, he added.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)India of late has been vocal in its demand that cross-border terrorism emanating out of Pakistan has to cease for talks to resume. China’s offer  of a ‘constructive’ role in the Kashmir issue has only helped to aggravate matters.The spokesperson again referred to the recent speech by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar in Singapore. He has been making the point that ‘differences should not be allowed to become disputes’ and India’s response to the Doklam crisis seems to be centred around that.