CHINA WARNS INDIA

China warns India against exploring oil in South China Sea ahead of Krishna's visit to 

Hanoi:

China has warned Indian companies from entering into any deal with Vietnamese firms for exploring oil and gas in disputed parts of the South China Sea. The statement might give a new turn to its relationship with India, which has been asking China not to build infrastructure projects in the disputed Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. 


"We hope foreign countries will not get involved in the dispute," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said ahead of Indian foreign minister SM Krishna's upcoming visit to Hanoi this week. 


"For countries outside the region, we hope they will respect and support countries in the region to solve this dispute through bilateral channels," she said while responding to a question concerning ONGC Videsh's plans to explore in two offshore oil blocks that Vietnam claims to be its own.

China enjoyed "indisputable sovereignty" over the South China Sea and its islands, Jiang said.