October 15, 2003	Wednesday	Sha'aban 18, 1424

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BEIJING, Oct 14: China on Tuesday reiterated its position on Sikkim and rejected India’s territorial claim in this regard.

Commenting on reports in the Indian media suggesting that China had recognized Sikkim as part of India, a spokeswoman of the Chinese Foreign office, Zhang Qiyue said: “The Sikkim dispute is still to be resolved.”

Clarifying actual position at a weekly news briefing here, she said: “Sikkim is an enduring question ... We have to respect history. We have to take into consideration realistic factors, too.”

However, Zhang Qiyue expressed the hope that the Sikkim issue would be addressed gradually.

The Chinese government has already denied the Indian media’s contention that China, by removing Sikkim from its foreign office’s website, had implicitly recognized Sikkim as part of India.—APP