China building villages near Doklam in Bhutan: Sat data

NEW DELHI: China has built at least 22 villages and settlements over the past eight years within territory that has traditionally been part of Bhutan, with eight villages coming up in areas in proximity to the strategic Doklam plateau since 2020, according to satellite imagery.

- Rezaul H Laskar

The eight villages in Bhutan's western sector, close to Doklam, are all strategically located in a valley or a ridge overlooking a valley that China claims, and several are close to Chinese military outposts or bases.

The largest of the 22 villages detected by observers and researchers - Jiwu, built on a traditional Bhutanese pastureland known as Tshethang-kha - is also located in the western sector.

The location of these villages has alarmed China watchers in New Delhi, especially since the strengthening of the Chinese position in this strategic region could increase the vulnerability of the Siliguri Corridor, or the so-called "chicken's neck", a narrow stretch of land connecting India's mainland to the northeastern states.

Doklam was the site of a 73-day standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in 2017, when New Delhi intervened to prevent the construction of a road and other facilities that would have given China access to the southern-most part of the plateau.

Though front line forces of both sides pulled back from the region at the end of the standoff, satellite images from recent years have shown stepped-up Chinese construction activity around Doklam.

There was no response from India's external affairs ministry for a request for comment on the development.

In recent years, Bhutanese authorities have denied the presence of Chinese settlements on Bhutan's territory, and former prime minister Lotay Tshering created a flutter when he told a Belgian newspaper in 2023 that the Chinese facilities "are not in Bhutan".

Bhutan did not respond to queries on the matter.