BEIJING: Chinese Foreign Ministry today announced that the upcoming bilateral meeting of its President Xi Jinping with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been cancelled amid a stand-off between the troops of both countries near the trisection of China, India and Bhutan borders.

“The ‘atmosphere’ was ‘not right’ for a bilateral meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of the G20 Summit,” said an FO spokesperson.

Beijing and New Delhi have been engaged in a standoff in the Dokalam area near the Bhutan tri-junction for the past three weeks after a Chinese military’s construction team attempted to build a road.

Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Military spokesperson Geng Shuang expressed hope that “India can immediately withdraw the border troops to the Indian side of the boundary to uphold the pace and tranquility of the China and India border areas.”