China has surprised India by laying claim on a small tract of land in North Sikkim, even threatening this week to demolish existing stone structures there. India has strongly rebutted these claims, lodged an official protest and barred Chinese troops from entering the area.

Referred to as the “Finger Area” by Indian armed forces, this territory falls north of Gyangyong in Sikkim and overlooks a strategically important valley known as the Sora Funnel. It contains several stone cairns, which are essentially heaps of stones that can be used for shelter. The area is in the northernmost tip of Sikkim, north of a place called Gyangyong, and appears like a protruding finger on the map — hence the name Finger Area.

On Thursday, at the periodic division commander-level flag meeting in Nathu La, India made it clear that it will not allow Chinese troops to enter the area and will strongly enforce this measure. While this was not the first time in the past five months that India was asking Chinese troops to stay away, sources said, this time it underlined stronger enforcement.

A day earlier, in Beijing at a lunch meeting between Indian officials led by Indian Ambassador to China Nirupama Rao and a Chinese team led by Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister for Foreign Affairs He Yafei, a key member of the Chinese delegation called aside a senior Indian diplomat and conveyed Chinese objections on the row building up in North Sikkim.

And in that informal off-the-record conversation, the Chinese side is believed to have gone to the extent of saying that its troops would soon demolish the stone cairns. A surprised Indian side is said to have pointed out that this would be a breach of the treaty to maintain peace and tranquility along the LAC.

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