New images of Chinese village in the Doklam plateau

On Tuesday, New satellite images emerged indicating that a Chinese Village has been constructed almost nine km east of the Doklam plateau on the Bhutanese side. This is a region that is considered important for India’s strategic interest. The images were captured by MAXAR, a company that focuses on space technology and intelligence, and they said that the village is fully inhabited with cars parked at the doorstep of virtually every home in the village. It further said that “the village is a nearly marked all-weather carriageway, which is part of China’s “extensive land to grab” in Bhutan.” The satellite images were first published by the news channel NDTV. “The new satellite images, sourced from Maxar, indicate that a second village in the Amo Chu river valley is now virtually complete while China has stepped up construction of a third village or habitation further South,” NDTV reports said. Notably, the carriageway could give access to China to a strategic ridge in the Doklam plateau. However, the Indian side has not commented on the development so far.

China has been building infrastructure along the border areas, including the LAC (Line of actual control) in eastern Ladakh. India and China have been locked in an over two-year standoff in this region.  The Indian and Chinese armies 2017 were locked in a 73-day stand-off at the Doklam tri-junction after China tried to extend in the area that Bhutan claimed belonged to it. The 2017 Doklam plateau India-China standoff even triggered a fear of war between the two nuclear-armed nations. The main reason was Bhutan said the area belonged to it and India had supported the Bhutanese claim. This standoff was resolved after numerous rounds of negotiations. India had strongly opposed the construction of the road at the Doklam tri-junction has been of important strategic interest, it would have impacted its overall security interest.  The two countries held 10 rounds of negotiations at the “expert group level.”  India- China face-off was then resolved after several rounds of negotiations.

2017 India – China Border Standoff

Doklam is an area disputed between China and Bhutan located near their tri-junction with India. Unlike China and Bhutan, India does not claim Doklam but supports Bhutan’s claim.

In  2017, there occurred a standoff between the two neighbouring nations India and China. The border standoff or Doklam standoff was a military border standoff between the Indian Armed Forces and the People’s Liberation Army of China over the Chinese construction of a road in Doklam, near a trijunction border. It occurred because on 16 June 2017 Chinese troops with construction vehicles and road-building equipment began extending an existing road southward in Doklam, a territory that is claimed by both China and India’s ally Bhutan. On 18 June 2017, about 270 armed Indian troops with two bulldozers crossed the Sikkim border into Doklam to stop the Chinese troops from constructing the road. On 29 June 2017, Bhutan protested to China against the construction of a road in the disputed territory. According to the Bhutanese government, China attempted to extend a road that previously terminated at Doka La towards the Bhutan Army camp at Zornpelri near the Jampheri Ridge 2 km to the south; that ridge, viewed as the border by China but as wholly within Bhutan by both Bhutan and India, extends eastward approaching India’s highly-strategic Siliguri Corridor. The Bhutanese border was reportedly put on high alert and border security was tightened as a result of the growing tensions. This was also the same day when China’s Foreign Ministry released a map depicting Doklam as a part of China. Now, one can argue here that China was trying to provoke India clearly, though China justified its stance by mentioning Article I of the 1890 Convention of Calcutta and affirming that the disputed area belongs to China and they are doing nothing wrong by constructing there. In response to that on June 30^th, the Ministry of External Affairs of India released a statement entitled “Recent developments in Doklam Area stating its official positions” It charged China with changing the status quo in violation of a 2012 understanding between the two governments regarding finalizing the tri-junction boundary points and causing security concerns, widely understood as at its strategic Siliguri Corridor. It says that “Indian personnel” at Doka La coordinated with Bhutan and “approached the Chinese construction party and urged them to desist from changing the status quo.

The arguments continued on both sides, back and for more than a month. It was in August 2017, that both the nations announced they had withdrawn all their troops from the face-off site in Doklam. It was a successful withdrawal from both sides. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India released a press statement stating “that India and China had mutually agreed to disengage. It said that India and China had maintained diplomatic communication in recent weeks and that India was able to convey its “concerns and interests”. In Beijing, the foreign ministry spokeswoman said that “the Chinese forces on site have verified that the Indian troops pulled out, and implied that Chinese troop numbers would be reduced”. She said that “the Chinese troops would continue to patrol the area, to garrison it and to exercise “sovereign rights”.” However, she made no mention of road-building activities