<p> Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday brushed aside Chinese threats on the ongoing face-off near the India-China-Bhutan border in Sikkim.<br /><br />“The India of 2017 is different from the India of 1962. Those were different situations,” Jaitley said in a television interview, countering the veiled warning from China.<br /><br />On Thursday, a spokesperson of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) described Indian Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat’s comment that “India was ready for a two-and-a-half-front war” as “extremely irresponsible”.<br /><br />“Such a rhetoric is extremely irresponsible. We hope that the particular person in the Indian Army could learn from historical lessons and stop such clamouring for war,” PLA spokesperson Col Wu Qian had said in Beijing.<br /><br />The Chinese foreign and defence ministry launched a media blitzkrieg accusing India of trespassing into what they claim is their territory. Bhutan, however, strongly denied the claim. “The Bhutan government, in a statement issued on Thursday, made it clear that the land in question belonged to it.<br /><br /> The said land is located near India’s border. There is an arrangement between India and Bhutan for giving security,” Jaitley said.<br /><br />The defence minister said Bhutan had made its stance clear and China was trying to alter the status quo in the area. <br /><br />“I think after this (Bhutan’s statement), the issue has become very clear,” he said.<br />China has been staking a claim on the contentious area in Bhutan to gain a strategic edge over India. <br /><br /></p>
<p> Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday brushed aside Chinese threats on the ongoing face-off near the India-China-Bhutan border in Sikkim.<br /><br />“The India of 2017 is different from the India of 1962. Those were different situations,” Jaitley said in a television interview, countering the veiled warning from China.<br /><br />On Thursday, a spokesperson of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) described Indian Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat’s comment that “India was ready for a two-and-a-half-front war” as “extremely irresponsible”.<br /><br />“Such a rhetoric is extremely irresponsible. We hope that the particular person in the Indian Army could learn from historical lessons and stop such clamouring for war,” PLA spokesperson Col Wu Qian had said in Beijing.<br /><br />The Chinese foreign and defence ministry launched a media blitzkrieg accusing India of trespassing into what they claim is their territory. Bhutan, however, strongly denied the claim. “The Bhutan government, in a statement issued on Thursday, made it clear that the land in question belonged to it.<br /><br /> The said land is located near India’s border. There is an arrangement between India and Bhutan for giving security,” Jaitley said.<br /><br />The defence minister said Bhutan had made its stance clear and China was trying to alter the status quo in the area. <br /><br />“I think after this (Bhutan’s statement), the issue has become very clear,” he said.<br />China has been staking a claim on the contentious area in Bhutan to gain a strategic edge over India. <br /><br /></p>
