NEW DELHI: As the stand-off between Indian Army and Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) over the construction of a road in a disputed area in Sikkim continues, soldiers from both sides are waiting for a diplomatic solution as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Germany later this week.
A local commanders-level meeting is expected to happen soon though the last two attempts to convene such a meeting were rejected by the Chinese side.
PM Modi and Jinping will be at Hamburg in Germany for the 12th G20 summit on July 7 and 8 during which they are expected to meet.
The issue of standoff is expected to figure in their conversation given the intensity it has generated on both sides.
China has been reacting sharply to this and accusing that “Indian troops trespassed the recognised and delineated boundary” between the two countries.
Both sides had deployed additional troops after the initial faceoff at the Doka-La area of Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction on which all three countries have claims. The Indian Army had blocked construction of the road by China in Donglong, a disputed territory between China and Bhutan.