not Bhutan's territory. Please refer to our statement which has been published on the web site of Bhutan's foreign ministry on June 29, 2017. The two countries have also agreed to maintain status quo on the boundary as before March 1959 and refrain from taking unilateral action, or use of force, to change the status quo of the boundary.Bhutan has hoped that the status quo in the Doklam area would be maintained by China as before 16 June 2017.The Chinese diplomat, while acknowledging that Bhutan had intially protested about Beijing's violation in the Doklam area, was quoted as saying, "After the incident, the Bhutanese made it very clear to us that the place where the trespassing happened is not Bhutan's territory. "India has conveyed to China that the road construction would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for New Delhi.India has maintained both sides should first pull back their troops for any talks to take place.and maintains contacts with Beijing through its diplomatic mission in New Delhi.Bhutan and China have held 24 rounds of talks to resolve boundary dispute, while India and China have completed 19 rounds of talks. (With inputs from ANI)

Source: Times of India August 10, 2017 08:11 UTC