China changing border status quo is a security threat to India, says Swaraj

This will pose a threat to India's security as it will be challenged

China intends to unilaterally change the status of the tri-junction with Bhutan, posing a challenge to India's security, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Thursday.

Observing that China was demanding the withdrawal of the Indian troops from the tri-junction point, she said India has been saying that both countries would have to withdraw their armies before amicably resolving the dispute through talks.

Responding to supplementaries during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Swaraj said "their (China's) intention was to reach the tri-junction so that they can unilaterally end the status of the tri-junction. It was only then that India came into the picture.
 

"If China unilaterally changes the tri-junction point, then India's security is challenged," she said, adding that Bhutan has protested in writing to China on this issue.

Swaraj also said that the country has been alert about its security in the context of China building infrastructure in the South China Sea. India favours freedom of navigation and unimpeded commerce in the South China sea.

On the standoff at Dokalam, she referred to the written agreement between India, China and Bhutan in 2012 that the three nations will together decide on the boundaries at the tri-junction point.

The Minister said China has been constructing roads earlier too, but now they have brought in bulldozers and excavators.

"We are saying that the matter can be resolved through talks, but both sides have to first take back their armies," she said.

The Minister said the boundaries between India and China are yet to be finalised and the two nations will do that bilaterally through a mechanism already set up, while the same between China and Bhutan too will be done through talks.

The Minister also said that India was not "unreasonable" on the issue and all nations were with it.

Swaraj said "all countries are supporting us and they understand that the stand taken by India on the issue is not wrong" as they realise that China is getting aggressive with Bhutan.

"India's position is not wrong on the tri-junction and all nations are with it. The law is with our country and all are realising this," she said.

Replying to a supplementary from Naresh Agrawal (SP), Swaraj said the principle of Panchsheel agreement between India and China is very much relevant today.

Swaraj also said China has stated its objective of becoming a "maritime power" and as part of this strategy, it is developing ports and other infrastructure facilities in the littoral countries of the region, including in the vicinity of India's maritime boundary.

"To say that India is being surrounded, I would say that India is very alert about its security and that is why nobody can corner it," she said, when asked if China was aiming to surround India by setting up infrastructure in the South China Sea.

She said India's policy is very clear on the South China Sea that there should be freedom of navigation and commerce should be unimpeded.

"If there are any differences, they need to be sorted out through UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on Law of Sea). China had in 2012 said it wanted to become a maritime power and for achieveing that, it set up various ports and other facilities," she said.

In response to another supplementary by Chhaya Verma (Cong), the minister said it was wrong to say that India had delayed in objecting to the OBOR (one belt, one road) issue.

She claimed that the moment India got to know that the OBOR was being made a part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), it objected to the move immediately.

"Under the OBOR initiative, China is undertaking projects for development of infrastructure facilities in several countries in the region. The so-called CPEC which passes through Indian territory under illegal occupation of Pakistan, has been identified as a flagship project of OBOR," she said in her written reply.

Swaraj said the government's consistent position is that Pakistan has been in illegal occupation of parts of Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir since 1947 and New Delhi conveyed to Beijing at the highest level, its concerns about their activities in PoK and asked them to cease such activities.

"Government keeps a constant watch on all developments having a bearing on India's security and takes all necessary measures to safeguard it," she said.