more-inDiplomatic channels are still being used to resolve the stand-off between India and China despite rising rhetoric from Beijing, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday, continuing to strike a measured note on the situation at the Sikkim tri-junction that has entered the second month. Despite the tensions over the Doklam situation where hundreds of Indian and Chinese troops are believed to have camped out across from each other on territory claimed by Bhutan, the government has been sending Ministers and officials for all the BRICS meetings on Agriculture, Education, Culture and Environment being held in China in June and July. Mr. Baglay also refused to respond to the state-owned China People’s Daily that published a repeat of an editorial from 1962 just before the Sino-Indian War, saying that he wouldn’t “comment on opinions or editorials in the media.”However, India dismissed the Chinese spokesperson’s reference to the Kashmir issue unequivocally. “We have seen the report that they said Kashmir is central to peace and stability in the region. Our stand is absolutely clear, at the heart of the matter is cross border terrorism perpetrated on the people of India including the people of Jammu and Kashmir.…As far as the Kashmir issue is concerned, we have been ready to have dialogue on all issues Pakistan, but in a bilateral framework,” the spokesperson said.

Source: The Hindu July 13, 2017 18:00 UTC