The India-China face-off over Doklam was resolved through ‘diplomatic maturity without losing and ground’ and status quo has been maintained, according to Sushma Swaraj. She also made it clear that ‘the boundary dispute between China and Bhutan was continuing an that it was a matter between the both of those countries’.
PM Narendra Modi met with China’s President Xi Jinping at the Wuhan informal summit on 27th and 28th of April this year. The informal summit was held ‘without any agenda’ and ‘without an objective to discuss any specific issue’, according to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. “The decision to host Wuhan was taken not to resolve any issue but to create a conducive environment. Three main objectives were to ensure mutual comfort, mutual understanding and mutual trust. In all the three objectives, we have achieved success,” she said.
According to Swaraj, as a follow up to the summit, the Chinese Defence Minister will make a visit to enhance military cooperation while the Foreign Minister will arrive later this year as part of ‘efforts to enhance people to people contact’.
Last June, there was a military border stand-off between the Indian Armed Forces and People’s Liberation Army of China over the construction of a road by China over the disputed territory of Doklam. Doklam is a place with a plateau and a valley, that lies in the tri-junction border area with Tibet to the north, Bhutan to the east and India on its south. This place has been a bone of contention between Bhutan and China, with India supporting Bhutan’s claim to Doklam.
The stand-off between the two armies lasted between 16th June 2017 and 28 August 2017; a total of two months, one week and five days. However, the stand-off did not escalate and both sides withdrew their troops completely, with the construction of the road also coming to a complete halt.
President Jinping has accepted PM Modi’s invitation to India for a second informal summit at a mutually convenient time in 2019, according to the External Affair Minister.