Diplomatic channels between India, China have never broken; Doval will visit Beijing next week: MEA on border dispute
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - When Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met on the sidelines of a regional conference last month, officials said they reached an understanding not to let the two countries' long-standing "differences become disputes".
Behind the scenes, India's ambassador to Beijing is leading the effort to find a way for both sides to back down from confrontation on the Doklam plateau - which China calls Donglang - without losing face, an Indian government source aware of the sensitive negotiations told Reuters.
In public, the two sides are saying little about the delicate diplomatic engagement.
"We want both sides to call back troops and work things out with talks," Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj told parliament on Thursday. China says India must first pull back its troops from the area before meaningful discussions can take place.
"Of course, we have said before, China-India bilateral diplomatic channels are always open," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang, when asked whether talks with India were being held to defuse the situation.
"But with regard to this incident, we have emphasized many times that the Indian border defence personnel who illegally crossed the boundary withdrawing to the Indian side of the line is the basis and precondition for China and India conducting any kind of meaningful dialogue."
So far there has been no sign of either side trying to mobilise more troops, military officials in New Delhi said.
One possibility is that the weather may force the two sides to quietly disengage, the Indian government source said. Construction activity in the area can only take place between June and September before it becomes snowbound.
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - When Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met on the sidelines of a regional conference last month, officials said they reached an understanding not to let the two countries' long-standing "differences become disputes".
Behind the scenes, India's ambassador to Beijing is leading the effort to find a way for both sides to back down from confrontation on the Doklam plateau - which China calls Donglang - without losing face, an Indian government source aware of the sensitive negotiations told Reuters.
In public, the two sides are saying little about the delicate diplomatic engagement.
"We want both sides to call back troops and work things out with talks," Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj told parliament on Thursday. China says India must first pull back its troops from the area before meaningful discussions can take place.
"Of course, we have said before, China-India bilateral diplomatic channels are always open," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang, when asked whether talks with India were being held to defuse the situation.
"But with regard to this incident, we have emphasized many times that the Indian border defence personnel who illegally crossed the boundary withdrawing to the Indian side of the line is the basis and precondition for China and India conducting any kind of meaningful dialogue."
So far there has been no sign of either side trying to mobilise more troops, military officials in New Delhi said.
One possibility is that the weather may force the two sides to quietly disengage, the Indian government source said. Construction activity in the area can only take place between June and September before it becomes snowbound.
