TNN | NEW DELHI :
The Indian defence establishment is opposed to China’s attempts to construct a road on the Doklam plateau+ leading right up to the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction, which has emerged as the major flashpoint in the ongoing face-off between the two armies in the remote border region.
The Doklam plateau is Bhutanese territory but China, which calls it Donglang, regularly sends People’s Liberation Army patrols to the area to lay claim to it. Beijing is desperate to incorporate the plateau in its adjoining Chumbi Valley, which is shaped like a dagger jutting into India, separating Sikkim from Bhutan, in southern Tibet for geo-strategic reasons.
The Indian establishment is obviously worried. For one, India will lose its “strategic advantage” in the region if the road is constructed. “Though our troops don’t hold the plateau, the watershed they hold dominates it. The Dhok La, in which we are present, opens into the Chumbi Valley,” said a source.
Moreover, China can militarily threaten the strategically-vulnerable and narrow Siliguri Corridor just about 50-km away in West
Bengal – the so-called “Chicken’s Neck” that connects the rest of India with the north-east states – if China manages to extend the road up to the tri-junction.
“China already has a couple of roads coming up to a certain point in the Chumbi Valley. If one of them is extended till the trijunction, through what we consider is Bhutanese territory, it will help the PLA in military logistics and maneuverability, like rapidly moving artillery and other equipment, in the case of a conflict with India,” said the source. The ongoing troop confrontation, with some initial jostling and a scuffle, began early this month when Chinese troops brought in heavy earth-moving and road-construction equipment as well as manual labour to the area. When Indian troops strongly objected to the move, the PLA soldiers destroyed two Indian bunkers+ in retaliation near the Lalten post and then shut down/closed the Nathu La Pass for the batch of pilgrims headed for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra+ from there.
The Indian defence establishment is opposed to China’s attempts to construct a road on the Doklam plateau+ leading right up to the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction, which has emerged as the major flashpoint in the ongoing face-off between the two armies in the remote border region.
The Doklam plateau is Bhutanese territory but China, which calls it Donglang, regularly sends People’s Liberation Army patrols to the area to lay claim to it. Beijing is desperate to incorporate the plateau in its adjoining Chumbi Valley, which is shaped like a dagger jutting into India, separating Sikkim from Bhutan, in southern Tibet for geo-strategic reasons.
The Indian establishment is obviously worried. For one, India will lose its “strategic advantage” in the region if the road is constructed. “Though our troops don’t hold the plateau, the watershed they hold dominates it. The Dhok La, in which we are present, opens into the Chumbi Valley,” said a source.
Moreover, China can militarily threaten the strategically-vulnerable and narrow Siliguri Corridor just about 50-km away in West
Bengal – the so-called “Chicken’s Neck” that connects the rest of India with the north-east states – if China manages to extend the road up to the tri-junction.
“China already has a couple of roads coming up to a certain point in the Chumbi Valley. If one of them is extended till the trijunction, through what we consider is Bhutanese territory, it will help the PLA in military logistics and maneuverability, like rapidly moving artillery and other equipment, in the case of a conflict with India,” said the source. The ongoing troop confrontation, with some initial jostling and a scuffle, began early this month when Chinese troops brought in heavy earth-moving and road-construction equipment as well as manual labour to the area. When Indian troops strongly objected to the move, the PLA soldiers destroyed two Indian bunkers+ in retaliation near the Lalten post and then shut down/closed the Nathu La Pass for the batch of pilgrims headed for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra+ from there.
