India Prepared for Any Unforeseen Incident at Doklam: Sitharaman

“We will maintain our territorial integrity”, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at the press conference in Chennai.

(Photo: ANI)

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday, 25 March, said India is ready to counter any “unforeseen situation” in Doklam.

The Indian Express quoted Sitharaman as saying, “We are alert and ready for any unforeseen situation in Doklam. We are constantly working on the modernisation of our forces. We will maintain our territorial integrity”.

This comes after Indian envoy to China Gautam Bambawale said the Doklam issue was triggered by the Chinese army who changed the status quo of the region.

Bambawale also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit China to take part in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in June during which there will "definitely" be a bilateral meeting between him and President Xi Jinping.

The SCO, a China-dominated security grouping, is increasingly seen as a counterweight to NATO. The SCO summit is due to be held in the Chinese city of Qingdao from 9-10 June.

In an interview to Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, Bambawale said: "During that (SCO summit), we will definitely have a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping. And before that happens we want to have a lot of other meetings".

"We will have a whole series of meetings in the next few weeks and months," the envoy said, adding that the boundary officials of both the countries will also be meeting.

"We are having these meetings to have candid and frank discussions", Bambawale said.

Sitharaman had recently said she would visit China next month.

The Foreign Ministers of the SCO countries are also due to meet before the summit.

Last year, Indian and Chinese troops had been locked in a stand off for over two months at the Doklam area in Sikkim. The face off had ended on 28 August.