The latest news reports state that Indian Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Bipin Rawat, National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary (FS) Vijay Gokhale, with several key army and External Affairs Ministry officials, secretly visited Bhutan two weeks ago to discuss strategic issues, including the situation in the Doklam region.
This joint visit by the COAS, NSA and FS to Bhutan was unprecedented, indicating the seriousness of the issues involved. Rawat had earlier visited Bhutan in April 2017, followed by the foreign secretary at the time, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, in October, while the king of Bhutan visited India in November.
Doklam became a buzzword last year with a 73-day India-China military standoff. China began claiming the Doklam Plateau in the early 1990s, realizing its strategic significance. This was accompanied by claims in other parts of Bhutan that kept inching forward.
China had no ethnic connections in Doklam but the People’s Liberation Army started periodic forays into the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) post in Doklam, telling them to vacate “Chinese territory.” These incidents were mostly ignored by the Bhutanese and Indian media. China then offered a compromise. If Bhutan surrendered the Doklam Plateau to China, it would give up its territorial claims in north-central Bhutan.
The Doklam Plateau is the private property of Bhutan’s royal family. India has had excellent opportunities since the early 1990s to establish an Indo-Bhutanese venture here, or quietly buy this piece of land. This could have been done if the Bhutanese king had been convinced, through bilateral discussions, that this was the best solution to avoid any future confrontation with China.
Diplomacy does not imply ignoring the obvious where national security and other interests are involved. But ironically, none of the governments in India (Congress, Janata Party, BJP) can be credited with credible strategic sense. The Doklam imbroglio is one among many lost opportunities for India.
When the Doklam standoff began on June 16, 2017, China probably did not expect an Indian reaction, since Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Washington at the time. It was because of corruption allegations – or perhaps the need to find a scapegoat for the Doklam standoff – that General Fang Fenghui, chief of the PLA Joint Staff Department, was fired later.
But the PLA intrusion in Doklam was not a local-level move, as portrayed by China and its state-controlled media. Any trans-border move by China, whether against Bhutan or India, would be monitored by the Communist Party of China and President Xi Jinping.
In fact, General Zhao Zongqi, commander of the Western Theatre Command, had visited India in December 2016 and met with then-COAS General Dalbir Singh Suhag, vice-chief of army staff Lieutenant-General Bipin Rawat, and Lieutenant-General Praveen Bakshi, who was India’s Eastern Army Commander, perhaps to gauge Indian preparations and resolve.
The Doklam standoff ended on August 28 and was celebrated as a ‘victory” in India. But China was only taking a tactical pause
The Doklam standoff ended on August 28 and was celebrated as a “victory” in India. But China was only taking a tactical pause, in all likelihood to prevent the embarrassment of Modi not attending the ninth BRICS Summit being hosted by China in Xiamen from September 3-5.
But even as the standoff continued, Bhutan issued a démarche to China for violating earlier agreements. But China was not sitting quiet either. It kept reiterating that Doklam was Chinese territory, with Luo Zhaohui, China’s ambassador to India, and his deputy Liu Jinsong warning India against any interference.
Luo also held meetings with Indian opposition leaders, while Liu dashed by air to Thimphu to meet with the king and the Bhutanese leadership. This was followed by China’s announcement that Bhutan had conceded Doklam. However, this was quickly denied by Bhutan.
Notably, Luo had visited Darjeeling in April 2017 and met with the district magistrate, perhaps to assess the Gorkha agitation and how China could exploit it.
Immediately after the Doklam standoff being called off, satellite images from September 6 revealed that the China had continued to build its presence close to the contested point. PLA units with heavy and lethal equipment were poised for quick escalation, and reports suggested that nearly 3,000 PLA troops had been deployed. Images depict that a headquarters, a logistics unit, air defense artillery and a mechanized unit were present at the site.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs maintained that there was no change from the status quo, but the imagery said otherwise. On December 11, Indian media reported that 1,600-1,800 PLA troops present in the Doklam area had built two helipads, upgraded roads, and established scores of prefabricated huts and shelters.
On January 17 this year, satellite imagery revealed that the PLA was fully in control of north Doklam with a force of about brigade strength, including two mechanized regiments, two regiments’ worth of tank transporters, and more than 100 large troop/equipment-carrying vehicles, among other vehicles and equipment. There was also a concrete two-story-high observation tower less than 10 meters from the most forward trench occupied by the Indian Army during the standoff.
Another set of satellite images on January 15 revealed that China was building roads and posts in the strategic Shaksgam Valley.
These indicate that China has not given up on Doklam and will continue to push forward its expansionist strategy.
This is the first article of a two-part series on India and the rise of China’s military and territorial ambitions.
Many countries such as India, including the US, have forgotten that in the Internet age, lies and propaganda not only will not work, but work against the liars. They are just too used to take others as fools.
Even as of today, poor Bhuttan, under a "treaty" with India, is NOT ALLOWED to have its own diplomat relation with other countries. Otherwise, it will face repercussions from India.
This is really good writting,we Nepali never afraid with India,if Nepali government stand with people,we can . . India hesitate us from 1950.
China is one big concentration camp..They exterminated millions of Tibetans and now they want Bhutan
China can never change….. ????
i didn’t find it amazing as its indian eye to see the world. india is the sole reason for south asian instability, either you talk about srilankan tamil tiger problem or pakistan boarder problem or boarder encroachment with nepal or imposing blockage to earthquake hit nepal. india has failed in every aspect. china is more friendly to its neighbors.
Doklam is Butan and Chinese issue. Why should India poke its nose there. Regarding the title, China respects Nepals sovereignity and has not encroaced Nepal’s boder while India is keen to encroach Nepal’s land with the help of its Border Security Force every time there is political turmoil or other crisis in Nepal. Being a good bully neighbour India has buit dams disguising as road along Nepals terai/plains border, against international laws, stopping natural flow of water and flooding thousand of hecters of farm land during monsoon and using that water for irrigation during summer.
Lol. Bunch of commie agents told by the party boss to start making noise. You can see the same message coming from trolls. Yaawning.
Jo Snow
U r correct in that part… Lipu lake and Kala Pani area belong to Nepal which has been encroached by Indian army. If u remember the history, Indian army seeked refuse on Nepal territory after defeat with China and ever since stationed there…
Doklam is an Indian win what a joke? chinese strategy for Nepal, what a joke? cheap Indian Media and Cheap indian beaurocrats are not going anywhere further in foreign policy, India should learn how to respect other country’s sovergenity than blaming China for intruding Doklam. Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh which one of these countries that India have a mutul and great relationship? Respect others sovergenity and land and they will treat you back fairly, you have no rights to work or act on behalf of other countries internal political affairs blaming a security threat to India from these countries. China want to absorb India from North, South, East and West not Bhutan and Nepal. Nepal was an Independant country from way before Indian independence and 200 years British Slavery.
"India has had excellent opportunities since the early 1990s to establish an Indo-Bhutanese venture here, or quietly buy this piece of land."
Bhutan and Nepal are soverign nations whose right to be independent entities is sacrosanct. It is neither for India or China to "absorb" or "purchase" bits of each nation or all of them.
The worth of a nation does not lie in the size of it. India and China are have no more legal or less legal rights to be nations as Bhutan and Sikkim
If China and India cannot or will not recognize soverignity of these nations then why should the world recognize the soverignity of either India or China.
The ultimate role of nations are to serve man. it is never the other way around (man serving the concept of a nation). Man and mankind always comes first. In that regard the average Chinese or the average Indian have less freedom, happiness, and quality of ife than the average Bhutanese or Nepalese.
The broad sweeping impersonal laws needed to govern mega populations of over 1 billion strip each individual human being of his liberties, freedoms and the basic natural rights of "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’.
That is underlying reason against mega nations. Their capitals simply cannot give these basic rights when their populatiions are too enormous to manage. It is not that Bhutan and Nepal should fear being absorbed by China or bought up by India but if China and India as mega nations should be dismantled into smaller manageable units whose citizens are treated in the highes level a human being can enjoy.
Of all the nations in the world only Bhutan has an index of Happiness. That is because she can have that index. Being a small nation Happiness is an easy state of being that the people of Bhutan enjoy. Absorbing or buying her up removes Happiness from them.
Yo, this article is about Bhutan entirely, why even talk about Nepal in your headline?
ReLoud mouths:
Nah!!! It’s purely over the LOST of FACE that these Pandorian Na’Vi’ tribes have had to endure ever since 1962 and it’s about the misguided expectation/confidence they have of their present bedfellow, the Americans, which is driving all of this hatred towards us.
Little WILL THEY RECALL however, that as in the 80’s, when the USSR, the other superpower, China’s arch rival at the time, was their then best friend and bossom buddy, that China didn’t blink either. Very forgetful people. Very forgetful.
Sadly still, advertising that they now have 『Beijing in Range Acne-5’s』 not only won’t help them, but, in the stead, it forces China to put up another of what I’d call a good offence equals front, in China’s western flank, putting all of South Asia in its SMELTERING RANGE rather than just a squirmish footing.
These Na’Vi’s need to thank the Americans for having put them in China’s SMELTERING RANGE whereas this was never before the case, ever, for the planet Pandora.
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Re Indian comedy:
Well… With AMERICA’s CHINA-PHOBIA running high and overflowing from the rim https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/these-chinese-military-innovations-threaten-u-s-superiority-experts-say-n848596 as a CONFIDENCE ENHANCER FOR EVEN THE MOST PRIMITIVE of Na’Vi tribes of the planet of Pandora as a weapon to try and regain some of that Na’Vi face, and grace, lost in ’62, indeed this is a very comical masterpiece designed and aimed at domestic Na’Vi and supporter audiences. Comfort food for domestic consumption I call it.
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Indian army is still in Nepal and refusing to leave.
The last time I checked, it was India who stationed its army in Bhutan, preventing Bhutanese from establishing relationship with China and ending their territorial dispute. Anyone remember sikkim? The sovereign state that is annexed by India? And if anyone conduct a survey in Nepal today, Nepalese fear their Indian neighbors, that is the reason why the Nepalese and actually most of South Asian countries want China to be more active in South Asia.
How shameless! History is very clear that it is India who has been trying to annex Bhutan and Nepal for decades. In fact, ever since the Indian CIA (so called Research and Analysis Wing RAW) use dirty covert operations to overthrow and Sikkim monarchy in 1975 and annexed the tiny independent country, the proud Nepalese has been very alert about Indian interference and political meddling in their country. Bhutan however is an even smaller, weaker and more isolated country than Nepal and has not been able to stand up against Indian ‘protection’ and manipulation. If the Bhutanese cherish their onw country, they really need to watch out against Indian scheming an annexation.
Google search ‘Sikkim annexation’
Loud mouthed indians high in hot air low in intelligence; the biggest democracy that’s spreading goodness around for mankind but have been leeching off rest of humanity on fake printed money since 1970s not to mention biggest serial warmonger since WWII; along with WWII atrocity denialer – we did no wrong – right wing Japan under abe – seeing a pattern yet? No wonder they get well along so well. New Axis of evil.
The whole title, and article itself is just pure indian comedy
"The Doklam Plateau is the private property of Bhutan’s royal family" – the link links to another article written by author himself…guess he thought it constitute as good enough proof…….according to Indian standard which he no doubt is very familiar with. LOL!
Nazi Gobbes will would have been happy to take you in as a protege, Mr. Retired Lieutenant.
Indians, one have to give them credit for their excuses at face-saving whilst their bedfellow, the Americans, gets top prize for being master spinners of the world.