New Delhi:
China on Monday reacted strongly to Indian envoy's remark on Doklam standoff, saying that the region belongs to them and India should have 'learnt lessons' from last year's stand-off.
Indian envoy Gautam Bambawale blamed China for the face-off, saying it happened because Beijing tried to alter the "status quo" in the disputed area.
Reacting to India's ambassador to China Gautam Bambawale's remarks that were published on Saturday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, "Donglong (Doklam) belongs to China because we have historical conventions."
"China's activities there are within our sovereign rights. There is no such thing as changing status quo," she said at a media briefing here."Last year thanks to our concerted efforts and our wisdom we properly resolved this issue.
We hope the Indian side could learn some lessons from this and stick to the historical conventions and work with China to ensure the atmosphere in the border areas is conducive for the development of bilateral ties," she said.
The 73-day standoff over China's attempt to build a road close to India's narrow Chicken Neck area connecting northeastern states ended in August last year after Chinese troops stopped the road construction at Doklam in Sikkim Section, though Beijing never officially acknowledged it. The area of the stand-off is also claimed by Bhutan.
India's envoy in an interview to Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post had blamed China for the stand-off in Doklam saying it happened because Beijing tried to alter the "status quo" which it should not have.
