China on Wednesday claimed that India had built 'facilities' on its side of the Sikkim border in 'violation' of the bilateral agreement on maintaining peace in the region.
The claim came a day after Indian government sources said the Chinese army personnel recently demanded removal of two bunkers on the border in Sikkim, which was rejected outright.
"The facilities built by India on the Chinese side of the border line are in violation of the agreement between China and India on maintaining peace and tranquility in the border region," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao, told PTI in Bejing.
The spokesman confirmed that China had requested India to remove the 'facilities.'
He also rejected as 'groundless,' reports that Chinese troops have made incursions into Bhutan.
Indian government sources had said that Chinese army personnel kept on transgressing at certain places along the Line of Actual Control in an attempt to assert their claim on certain Indian territories.
"We (India and China) have different perceptions of LAC... We know where the differences are," the sources said, adding that the issue was being addressed in the ongoing talks on boundary question.
Interestingly, the Chinese Army's demand for removal of the bunkers came a week after Chinese official media reported that the Sino-India boundary area was growing 'more amicable' with the militaries of both sides ready to resolve problems, including incursions.
The year 2000 marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and India, which helped warm relations between the troops, a commentary by the official Xinhua news agency had said last week.
'Now, if problems like trespassing come to the meeting table, both sides politely agree to further investigate and then settle it through negotiations,' it quoted a senior Chinese Army officer as saying.
'The meetings have enabled both sides to exchange information promptly and resolve problems conveniently, which has better maintained peace and stability,' Colonel Zhang
Weiguo, head of the Chinese delegation at a meeting with Indian border troops in May this year, was quoted as saying.
The unresolved Sino-Indian boundary issue has hampered the normal development of bilateral ties, analysts say.
Unable to find a negotiated settlement through the diplomatic channels, India and China appointed Special Representatives in June 2003 to address the border issue from a political perspective of the overall bilateral relations.
The Special Representatives of the two nations have held 11 rounds of negotiations so far. The latest round was held in Beijing from September 24-26.
India says China is illegally occupying 43,180 sq km of Jammu and Kashmir, including 5,180 sq km illegally ceded to Beijing by Islamabad under the Sino-Pakistan boundary agreement in 1963. On the other hand, China accuses India of possessing some 90,000 sq km of Chinese territory, mostly in Arunachal Pradesh.
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