China’s PLA warns India: Learn lessons from 1962 defeat…

India should learn lessons from its defeat in 1962 and stop clamouring for a war, China warned on Thursday, saying the precondition for settling the current stand-off in the Sikkim sector is that New Delhi withdraws its troops immediately.

China said its troops were building a road in its own territory and not on land that belonged to Bhutan.

People’s Liberation Army (PLA) spokesperson Wu Qian was reacting to Indian Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat’s statement that India was ready to take on China, Pakistan and internal security issues.

“Such rhetoric is extremely irresponsible. We hope (the) particular person in the Indian Army could learn from historical lessons and stop such clamouring for war,” he said at the monthly defence ministry briefing in Beijing, indicating China’s aggressive position in the current dispute.

The topic of a new 35-tonne tank, built and tested by China in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), came up at the briefing, after a Chinese journalist asked whether it was better than its Indian counterparts and whether China will use it against India  in a war. “A type of tank undertook trial on the (Tibet) plateau. The purpose of is to test the parameters of the equipment and is not targeted against any country,” Wu said.