Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in a standoff for almost a month. (File)
As the standoff at Doka La in Sikkim sectors continues, Chinese media and think tanks have said China will safeguard its sovereignty even at the cost of war with India. Soldiers of the two nations have been locked in a
standoff for almost a month now in what has been the longest such impasse between the two armies since 1962. "China is also different from what it was in 1962," Wang Dehua, professor at the Shanghai Municipal Centre for International Studies, was quoted by state-run daily Global Times as saying.
Defence Minister Arun Jaitley had said
India of 2017 is different from what it was in 1962. "If they are trying to remind us, the situation in 1962 was different and the India of 2017 is different," Mr Jaitley had said.
Mr Wang said India has been treating China as its biggest competitor since 1962 as both countries have similarities. "For instance, they are both developing countries with huge population," Mr Wang said. "India should change its hostile attitude toward China as a good relationship is beneficial for both sides," Mr Wang added.
The Global Times report, quoting experts, said there could be a chance of war if the recent tension between China and India is not handled properly. "China will resolutely defend its territory and safeguard the border," the report said.
"In 1962, China fought a war with India... resulting in the deaths of 722 Chinese troops and 4,383 Indian soldiers," the report said. Experts called on both sides to resolve the conflict through dialogue and negotiations, it said.
"Both sides should focus on development rather than conflict or war," Zhao Gancheng, Director of the Centre for Asia-Pacific Studies at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, told the Chinese newspaper.
"A conflict between the two may give other countries a chance to take advantage, for example, the US," Mr Gancheng said.
On reports that Mr Jaitley was surveying the China-India border to build an "all-weather railway corridor" for swift movement of troops, Mr Gancheng said, "India is trying to catch up with China in the construction of frontier defence."