Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 5

China today again asked India to pull back troops from Doklam in the Sikkim sector to “avoid worsening of the situation” as it accused New Delhi of “trampling on” the Panchsheel pact by “illegally entering” its territory.It was weighing options on a travel alert for citizens visiting India, China added, charging India with “misleading” the public by saying that the Chinese had built a road near the Siliguri corridor.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Amid the military standoff, on-ground postures of the forces are, for now, “non-aggressive” as a high-level dedicated group set up in 2012 is mandated to discuss such flare-ups.  The military standoff is being conducted from a “civil distance” even as both sides have dug in heels at a spot on the Doklam plateau (10,000 feet) at the tri-junction of India, Bhutan and China. Both sides have pitched in tents and maintain a line for supplies, indicating readiness for a long haul. The area is disputed between Bhutan and China. India is there to help a friend.In January 2012, the two countries established a “Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs”. It has representatives of the Ministry of External Affairs as also the Ministry of Defence of either side.Its mandate under Article VI of the agreement says: “The working mechanism will address issues and situations that may arise in the border areas that affect the maintenance of peace and tranquility and will work actively towards maintaining the friendly atmosphere between the two countries.”It is tasked with meeting at fixed intervals and “emergency consultations” can be convened mutually.In the past, similar standoffs have been resolved through diplomacy. The two countries do not have a demarcated border and the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is the de facto boundary all along the 3,488-km frontier.The Border Defence Cooperation Agreement inked in 2013 says: “If the forces come face to face… both sides shall exercise maximum self-restraint, refrain from provocative action, not use force or threaten to use force, and prevent exchange of fire.”

With agency inputs