According to US-based satellite operator operator Mercury Technologies, images from October 28, 2020 show that “construction activity has clearly been carried out this year in the Torsa River Valley area.” In a statement, Maxer added that “new military storage bunkers” have also been constructed near the Doklam area.
Max Sar said the images show the newly built village of Pangda on the disputed border with Bhutan, as well as supply depots in Chinese territory, close to the point of contention between India and the Chinese army in 2017.
In a statement, Bhutan’s ambassador to India, Major General Vetosap Namgyel, said, “There are no Chinese villages inside Bhutan.”
China’s foreign ministry did not respond to CNN’s request for comment on the new images. India’s foreign ministry also did not immediately comment.
Indian broadcaster NDTV reported images of the first satellite.
The thin strip of land bordering the three countries, the Doklam area has been claimed by both China and Bhutan, but it is also strategically important for India, as it is an important artery between New Delhi and its northeastern states, close to the Siliguri corridor. .
“The Siliguri Corridor is a strategically important and highly sensitive region, as it is the only bridge between India’s eight north-eastern states and the rest of the country,” analyst Syed Fazal-e-Haider wrote in an article published earlier this year. By the Australian Australian Think Tank, Low Law Organization. “Within just 1 kilometer, the Chinese army could cut through Bhutan, West Bengal and the northeastern states of India. Nearly one million people in north-east India will be separated from the country.”
An article in the government-run Global Times newspaper on Monday quoted Chinese experts as saying, citing Maxer’s claims and reports in the Indian media, that a village had been built in the Bhutanese region.
However, where the two countries draw their borders is highly disputed. The 2017 situation sp also came after Bhutan accused China of building a road within its territory in a “direct violation” of treaty obligations. China, which does not have formal diplomatic relations with Bhutan, has denied the allegations, saying the area is part of Chinese territory.
Bhutan has traditionally been a strong ally of India, relying on Delhi to train its armed forces and to closely cooperate on India’s foreign policy. That seems to be changing, however, as the rivalry between Beijing and Delhi in particular is fierce.
Earlier this year, India and China were embroiled in a bloody clash on another disputed border in the Himalayas, in which at least 20 soldiers were killed, the worst conflict between the two countries since the 1962 war on the same territory.
While the two countries agreed to disqualify, a satellite image of Maxxar Technologies shows that China continues to strengthen its position on the Indian border, although further construction is not possible at this time of year due to the harsh winter conditions in the Himalayas.
Repeatedly reinforcing conditions and rejecting allegations of aggression out of anger, Beijing’s behavior echoes in the South China Sea, where it has militarized islands, rocks and islands, giving effective control to the vast rocks of the disputed area. A very important fishing and naval area over which the other six governments claim partial or complete sovereignty.
Manoj Joshi, a distinguished colleague of the New Delhi-based claim Buzzer Research Foundation, said they are understanding their claim so they are raising facts on the ground so the village is part of a larger policy there. Tanks. “(2017) then, they realized that, like the Indian side, their border areas are also very sparsely populated so it has become very difficult to patrol the area. Now, by building these facts on the ground, by building this village, you can say It always was. In the Chinese style, you make facts on the ground and then you say it’s always been that way. “
“I think (Bhutan has said) that we will stay with him and not make noise and see another way,” Joshi said. “Delhi can do very little without complaining to its neighbor,” Joshi added.
“As the crow flies, this point is 11 kilometers above the Indian position, so there is nothing India can do unless Bhutan calls for help. If you look at the Indo-Bhutan treaty, there is no clear defense clause. So, of course, the Bhutanese people are with it. That is, we look the other way and the Chinese form the facts on the ground. “
In particular, the noble nature of the village of Pangda is reminiscent of the early foundations built on sand and small islands in disputed waters. The high Himalayas are the hostile environment of the best of times, but as Nathan Rousser, an analyst at the Australian Australian Strategic Policy Institute, the new village is built for the right to regional madness rather than longevity.
“The high-resolution image also shows how unpredictable a village is, built essentially on a sandy beach in the middle of a mountain river valley (where water flow through snowfalls and high cliffs is unpredictable and floods become common). Is uncertain. ”
Rouge wrote On Twitter in response to the new image. “These Chinese engineers have built a small maintenance wall. To finish it off, I believe there was no flood water outside the village. I’m not sure I believe it when the only way out is to flood. Before the village. . “
James Griffiths reports from Hong Kong. Manavina Suri reported from New Delhi.
.
