India should respect border agreement, withdraw troops

More than two weeks after India sent troops across the Sikkim border into China to obstruct construction of a road by the People's Liberation Army in the Donglong region, the situation there remains worryingly tense, with a stand-off between soldiers of the two countries still ongoing.

That the situation has not flared out of control is thanks to the great restraint exercised by the Chinese troops. But the tensions resulting from the intrusion will surely grow if there is not a total withdrawal of the Indian troops.

Unlike previous incidents that have occurred along other parts of the 3,500-kilometer border between China and India, the latest incident happened at a section that has long been demarcated by an 1890 historical convention and reaffirmed in documents exchanged between successive Chinese and Indian governments since then.