“We don’t know where exactly is the watershed line. It may be here or it may be there. But my advice is that don’t interpret the movement of Chinese forces in certain areas as that of an incursion,” he said on the sidelines of an interactive session with Calcutta Chamber of Commerce.

He said the border between Sikkim and Tibet was determined in 1890 when the British attacked Tibet. “In principle the border was set up then and not in 1959,” Sewei added.

On the issue of bilateral trade between the two countries through Nathu La, Sewei insisted on including more articles in the trade list.

“There are 15 items that can be imported from China and 29 items that can be exported to China. Even the business community in Sikkim wants a more comprehensive list,” Sewei said. The counsel general said that a lot of Chinese companies are interested in setting up manufacturing units in West Bengal particularly in areas like steel and automobile tyres.

He, however, declined to comment on the Chinese-backed Sagardihi power plant that has failed to startup. Sewei urged the Indian government to relax visa rules for Chinese workers. “The business visa provided by the Indian Government is for a maximum period of six months and the individual has to leave the country after three months. Before the completion of the tenure of visa an individual has to renew the visa from China and this creates a lot of problem for Chinese businessmen,” he said.

He said that with the Chinese consulate office coming up in Kolkata, procuring visas would be easy.