A month of confrontation on the plateau between two giants China and India

The Doklam Plateau in Bhutan has become a flashpoint as both India and China have decided to deploy troops to protect their interests.

Chinese and Indian soldiers in the border area. Photo: CCTV.

India and China, two Asian giants with a combined population of about 2.6 billion people, are experiencing a period of tension after a month of face-to-face confrontation on the Doklam plateau, one of the region's territorial dispute hotspots, according to the BBC.

Tensions began to flare up when a platoon of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) on June 8 took advantage of the darkness to quietly enter the Doklam plateau between the China-Bhutan border, destroying bunkers that the Bhutanese royal army had built years ago to serve border patrols.

On June 16, a Chinese engineering unit with bulldozers, road rollers, and excavators entered Doklam to build a road across the plateau, but was met with opposition from the Bhutanese army. Believing that China had violated the 1998 non-negotiable status quo agreement, Bhutanese soldiers argued and even scuffled with Chinese soldiers. However, the Chinese soldiers refused to withdraw, forcing Bhutan to seek help from India. Two days later, about 300-400 Indian soldiers entered Doklam, blocking the Chinese engineering unit, starting a crisis that is now in its fourth week.

The Doklam Plateau, which borders India, China and Bhutan, is a disputed area between Beijing and Bhutan, two countries with which there are no formal diplomatic relations. India supports its neighbor Bhutan in the dispute over the area.

“The construction of this road will obviously cause significant damage to our security,” said Ashok Kantha, director of the Institute of Chinese Studies in Delhi. “The Chinese are unilaterally changing the status quo at the tri-junction and this will have serious implications for India’s security as the Chinese military will have a greater presence there.”

With that concern, India has decided not to withdraw its troops from Doklam, and has sent thousands of additional troops to Sikkim, near the border junction. China believes that the Indian army is "invading its territory" and demands that they withdraw immediately.

The two countries missed an opportunity to ease tensions when Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not meet on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Germany in early July.

Chinese media earlier this week showed footage of the country’s military conducting large-scale military exercises on the Tibetan plateau, not far from Doklam. China’s Western Strategic Area has also deployed a large amount of military equipment south of the Kunlun Mountains in Tibet, according to China Daily.

However, Indian defense officials have said they have not seen a significant increase in China's military presence in the border area, adding that the PLA exercise in Tibet was unrelated to the current tensions in Doklam.

Indian and Chinese soldiers clash at the border.

This is not the first time the two Asian giants have faced off at the border, where sporadic clashes and scuffles between the two countries’ border guards are common. The area saw an armed conflict between China and India in 1967, followed by a period of tension and troop deployment along the Arunachal Pradesh border in 1986-1987.

In the Doklam crisis, New Delhi believes Beijing is testing India’s commitment to neighboring Bhutan, according to analyst Ajai Shukla. “China has always resented India’s close relationship with Bhutan and has been constantly pressuring it to create a wedge,” Shukla wrote.

However, some experts believe that India made a mistake by openly sending troops into Doklam to protect Bhutan. "I agree that they have security concerns, and you can also say that China has violated the status quo. But sending troops to another country's disputed area in the name of security can be an excuse for China to exploit," said an Indian analyst who asked not to be named.

Long Xingchun, an expert at a Chinese think tank, said that a "third country" could also use this name to send troops into the disputed area between India and Pakistan, a country that is an ally of China. "Even if India is asked to defend Bhutan's territory, it can only send troops to the demarcated territory, not the disputed area," Long said.

Strategic area

Observers say the security pledge to Bhutan is just one part of India’s move to send troops to Doklam. New Delhi is also concerned that if the Doklam road is completed, Beijing will have easy access to the Siliguri Corridor, a strategically important 20-kilometer “chicken’s neck” that connects India’s remote northeast with the rest of the country.

The Siliguri Corridor is the "chicken neck" that connects India's Northeast with the rest of the country. Graphic: Times of India.

India’s Northeast, which comprises eight states and is home to around 40 million people, is a largely overlooked region in the country. The eight states account for just 25 seats in the lower house of parliament, while the region’s economy is underdeveloped and largely agricultural. Geographically and culturally, the region is quite isolated from the rest of India, leading to the region often being viewed as a tribal enclave rather than a national territory, according to the Diplomat.

The region also includes the state of Sikkim, which was an independent monarchy that only became a state of India in 1975. China previously considered Sikkim a separate country and only recognized the region as an Indian state in 2003, on the condition that India recognized Tibet as part of China.

Despite its complex geographical location and political situation, this land has great economic potential, with rich natural resources and an abundant labor force. This could be a bridge between India and Southeast Asia to become a trans-regional trade gateway, serving Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Look East policy.

The biggest problem in the Northeast, however, is the insurgent and separatist groups that have been fighting government forces since the region became part of India. New Delhi fears that if a border conflict breaks out, Beijing will surely control the “chicken’s neck” region, giving the insurgent groups in the Northeast a chance to break away from India. Indian leaders believe that these separatist groups have a very good chance of success if they receive Chinese support.

Analysts say that if India can develop the Northeast, it will build a defense barrier on the border with China that is stronger than any military force and hardware. This could be New Delhi's most effective weapon against Beijing's ambitions to expand its influence across the Himalayas.

To do that, India cannot afford to go to war with China at this point, according to Srinath Raghavan, a senior fellow at Delhi’s Center for Policy Research. It is important for India, China and Bhutan to find a face-saving solution to the tensions.

The expert said that the visit to Beijing later this month by Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval is a great opportunity for the two countries to defuse tensions. "Both sides see this as a matter of prestige. But the role of diplomacy is to find peaceful solutions in difficult situations," Raghavan said.

"I don't think either side wants war. The current crisis is not worth a conflict, but both sides value face, which could prolong the tension," he said.

According to VNE