Heights Of Showdown

China needles India, bullies Bhutan and opens a new zone of confrontation in Doklam, threatening the strategically critical Siliguri corridor. The Indian response has been calm, yet firm

- Soumik Dey/Nathu La & Gnathang

The Doklam (Doko La) plateau lies between the two Silk Road entry points from China to India, the Nathu La and Jelep La, near the India-Bhutan border in Sikkim. Located in the Chumbi valley and claimed by Bhutan, it has been just a grassland frequented by wild yaks and cattle herders from Tibet and Bhutan. At least, till early last month.

Now, with China’s ongoing attempts to construct a paved road, which can carry vehicles up to 50 tonnes, this grazing patch is turning into a dagger pointed at the Siliguri corridor, also known as ‘Chicken’s Neck’. Once the construction of the road is complete, India believes China will be in a position to overrun the Siliguri corridor, cutting off the northeastern states from the rest of India.

From Siliguri and the adjacent New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, the movement of Army vehicles and personnel is a routine sight. Of late, the rush has intensified. On June 30, even as a large number of people took out a protest march in Siliguri against a separate Gorkhaland, blocking all traffic, Army convoys could be seen rolling out silently across the Mahananda bridge, headed for the hills further up.

According to government sources, the trigger behind the latest outbreak of hostilities was the Indian Army’s intervention on June 4 to stop the road construction by the Chinese army in an area claimed by Bhutan. [A statement issued by the ministry of external affairs, however, noted that the construction party entered the Doklam area on June 16.] India responded on a request from Bhutan following its commitments under the 2007 Friendship Treaty. In retaliation, the PLA destroyed two Indian Army bunkers. As tension mounted, senior military officers from both sides held a flag meeting at the Nathu La border post on June 20, in which China asked India to remove its troops from the Doklam plateau, which it claimed was Chinese territory.