After Ladakh and the South China Sea, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is poised to open another front against Bhutan, with a build-up in the western and central part of the Kingdom in an attempt to establish the border on terms favorable to China. In the next 25th round of boundary conversations, people familiar with the matter said:
While Thimpu has been sensitized at the highest levels about the PLA threat, the people added, Beijing will likely use the PLA transgressions and invasions in central Bhutan for possible compensation in already invaded areas and claims in the western part of the kingdom in the next negotiations.
Bhutan is critical to India’s national security as the country is adjacent to the Siliguri corridor and any territorial compromises made by Bhutan will have an adverse impact on Indian defenses in the area. Although India helped Bhutan stand its ground against the PLA during the 73-day standoff on the Doklam plateau in 2017, the Chinese military has not stopped testing the armies of the two close allies in the area, the people, the army, India’s diplomacy and security. the establishment said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Chinese land claims in Bhutan include 318 square kilometers in the western sector and 495 square kilometers in the central sector. Continuing its expansionist policies under the control of peaceful coexistence, the PLA continues to build roads, build and upgrade military infrastructure, and intimidate the tiny Royal Bhutan Army through aggressive patrols and denial of access, the people explained.
According to diplomats based in Thimpu and New Delhi, since the Doklam clash in 2017, the PLA has meddled in five areas in western Bhutan and has claimed a new boundary that extends approximately 40 km into Bhutan, east of the valley. of Chumbi. It has methodically built infrastructure, improved defenses, built roads, runways, helipads for troop movement and last-mile logistics.
In true Middle Kingdom style, PLA patrols on August 13 and 24 crossed the Torsa nullah (Dolong Chu) mainstream to the south of Doklam and called on Bhutanese shepherds to leave the area near Lake Raja Rani in the one their cattle were grazing. The basic idea behind the PLA move is to force both India and Bhutan to agree that China’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 exactly what the PLA was trying to do in 2017, when it was stopped by the Indian army.
According to national security planners, the PLA has increased surveillance in northern Doklam by installing surveillance cameras and continues aggressive military technical upgrading on the Chinese side of the disputed plateau. Thimphu has called on the Royal Bhutan 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 agreed by Beijing in Doklam in 2017.
The PLA’s expansion plans are not limited to western Bhutan. In June, China filed an objection against Bhutan’s Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary (SWS) project on the grounds that it was located in a disputed border area. Spanning some 750 square kilometers, the sanctuary is located in eastern Trashigang Dzongkhag of Bhutan, on the border with India and China. This new claim may draw India back into the contest, as the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary adjoins Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as its territory.
The development came as a surprise to Bhutan. China had never claimed the land of the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary before, or, for that matter, no land in eastern Bhutan, analysts said. Even more puzzling, Beijing had not mentioned the region during 36 years of diplomatic talks the two sides have held to resolve their border differences. Naturally, the government of Bhutan strongly opposed the Chinese claim to question Bhutan’s sovereignty. Although he rejected China’s claim, Thimpu has also relayed that the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary is a sovereign territory of Bhutan and is not disputed. The Chinese Foreign Ministry, however, takes a different perspective and made an official statement 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.
It is notable that the Chinese position emerged in early June, at a time when Beijing was involved in a series of military clashes along its Royal Line of Control (LAC) with India in Ladakh. China’s new territorial claim in eastern Bhutan indicates Beijing’s intent and its sudden territorial claim reinforces the expansionist narrative the country has now embarked on under Xi Jinping.
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