Image used for representation.
The PLA has meddled in five areas in western Bhutan and claimed a new boundary that stretches some 40 kilometers into Bhutan, east of the Chumbi valley, diplomats based in Thimpu and New Delhi said.
- News18.com New Delhi
- Last update: September 13, 2020 6:44 PM IST
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Before the 25th round of China-Bhutan boundary talks, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is ready to open a front against the Kingdom with a build-up in its western and central parts to resolve the border on terms favorable to Beijing. people in the know told the Hindustan Times.
In the upcoming negotiations, China may use the PLA’s transgressions and encroachments in central Bhutan to compensate for already invaded areas and the western part of the Kingdom, the people said. However, Bhutan has been sensitized about the threat of the PLA at the highest levels, they added.
India and China recently reached a five-point consensus to resolve the four-month-long military standoff in eastern Ladakh, agreeing to “quickly withdraw” the troops, avoid any action that could increase tensions, and take steps to restore peace to Along the line of the real Control (LAC).
However, since Bhutan is adjacent to the Siliguri corridor, any territorial compromise from Thimpu would have an adverse effect on India’s defenses in the area, according to the report.
In 2017, India helped Bhutan defend itself from the PLA during the confrontation in Doklam, which lasted 73 days. But people from the Indian military, diplomatic and security establishment told HT, on condition of anonymity, that the PLA had not stopped testing the Indian and Bhutanese armies in the area.
Beijing’s territorial claims in Bhutan include 318 square kilometers in the western sector and 495 square kilometers in the central sector. The PLA continues to build roads and build military infrastructure to intimidate the Bhutanese army through aggressive patrols and denial of access, the people said.
The PLA has intruded into five areas in western Bhutan and has claimed a new boundary that stretches some 40 kilometers into Bhutan, east of the Chumbi valley, diplomats based in Thimpu and New Delhi said.
PLA patrols crossed the main stream from Torsa nullah (Dolong Chu) to the south of Doklam and asked Bhutanese herdsmen (who were grazing their cattle) to leave the area near Lake Raja Rani on August 13 and 24, it mentions The report.
Through these moves, the Chinese military wants India and Bhutan to agree that the country’s border extends to Gyemochen on the Jhampheri ridge and not on the Sinche la-Batang La axis, the true alignment of the trijuncture. This is what the Indian military had prevented the PLA from doing in 2017.
National Security planners said the PLA had increased surveillance in northern Doklam by installing surveillance cameras. It continues with “aggressive military technical upgrading” on the Chinese side of the disputed plateau, they said.
Bhutan has asked its army to prepare for a reaction plan by deploying additional troops to prevent the PLA from reaching south of Torsa nullah or unilaterally altering the separation lines that Beijing agreed to in Doklam in 2017.
China had also filed an objection against Bhutan’s Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary (SWS) project in June, claiming it was located in a disputed border area. The 750-square-kilometer sanctuary is located in eastern Trashigang Dzongkhag of Bhutan, and borders India and China. India can be a part of this contest as the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary adjoins Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing claims as its territory.
This new claim from China came as a surprise to Thimpu, as Beijing had never claimed land in eastern Bhutan before, analysts said. China had not even mentioned the area in 36 years of diplomatic talks with Bhutan to resolve its border disputes.
Thimpu has rejected the claim, relaying that the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary “is not in dispute” and is a sovereign territory of Bhutan. However, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has issued an official statement stating that “the border between China and Bhutan has never been delimited. There have been disputes in the eastern, central and western sectors for a long time.
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