New Delhi, June 10 : Refuting accusations that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is trying to be soft on China, Defence Minister A. K. Antony today said that 'no compromise would be made as far as the national security is concerned'.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a conference of top commanders of the Integrated Defence Staff drawn from the three wings of the armed forces, Antony said that there won't be any compromise on national security while resolving the border dispute with China.

"Regarding national interest, we don't compromise. The dialogue started years ago and we are in the 11th round. Our armed forces are ready to meet any challenges. We are trying to avoid confrontation that's why dialogue is continuing," he said.

When asked whether the Congress-Left partnership was having an incapacitating effect on the Chinese incursions into Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh and the country's foreign policy, he said that the armed forces are always ready to face any challenge.

The Minister further added that India wanted to avoid confrontation with China and that was the reason why 'a dialogue' is being resorted to.

He said that it would be 'appropriate to find a solution through dialogue'

Earlier, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had accused the UPA of being soft on China owing to pressures from the Left allies.

India and China have been trying to get a breakthrough on a decades-old border dispute that has dogged relations and that flared into a brief war in 1962.

China and India also agreed to set up a mechanism to look at trans-boundary rivers, following concerns in New Delhi that Beijing was seeking to divert the headwaters of the Brahmaputra river in Tibet toward its parched western provinces. (ANI)