NEW DELHI: Amidst the face-off between Indian and Chinese army over the construction of a road in a disputed territory in Sikkim, China on Saturday issued a safety advisory for its citizens travelling to India.
The Chinese embassy in the national capital issued an advisory for its people to pay attention to their safety and avoid unnecessary travel within the country.
Clarifying it is not a travel alert, Chinese foreign ministry claimed that it is an advisory asking Chinese travellers to be ‘careful’.
The advisory asked Chinese travelers to India to pay close attention to the security situation and take necessary precautions. It also asked them to carry personal identification and keep their family, colleagues and friends posted about their movements. No reasons have been cited for the advisory but it is believed to have been issued to advice citizens to avoid being hit by anti-China sentiment.
Beijing had earlier this week on July 5 had said that a travel alert to its citizens visiting India would be issued depending on the security situation, when its foreign ministry claimed that it ‘Chinese government attaches great importance to the safety and lawful rights of Chinese citizens’.
Indian army Chinese PLA have been involved in the fact off for nearly a month and both sides had deployed additional troops after the initial faceoff at the Doka-La area of Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction claimed on which all three countries have claims. Doka La is at the tri-junction of Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet and is strategically important for India as the crucial Siliguri corridor known in military parlance as Chicken Neck having road and rail head is just 50 to 60 kms from there.
Sources said that army has reservations over China making road upto Dolam, basically the buffer region leading to Chicken Neck Siliguri circuit would be dissolved. The Indian Army had blocked construction of the road by China in Donglong, a disputed territory between China and Bhutan