India looking for face saving in standoff with China: Global Times
Shares
BEIJING: The China-India border standoff has been going on for almost two months. China has made it clear that India's withdrawal from the Doklam area is the precondition for talks, a justified and legitimate demand.
But India has refused to pull back its troops. The longer the standoff, the more disadvantageous India's position will be. Perhaps aware of its illegal incursion, India has begun to find ways to save face.
Oneindia, an Indian news site, claimed that India would withdraw if its troops are replaced by Bhutanese troops, citing "a highly placed source." Since India is Bhutan's protector, India's withdrawal would mean stabbing Bhutan in the back and abandoning its ally, Global Times quoted the report.
However, Doklam is a border area between China and Bhutan and has nothing to do with India. It is India that crossed into the indisputable Chinese territory and stirred the current face-off. India appears to be confronting China for the sake of Bhutan, but New Delhi does not care about its Himalayan neighbor.
It's all about India's strategic calculation. India fears that it would be controlled more easily if China builds roads in the dagger-shaped area aimed at India's vulnerable "chicken-neck" area of Siliguri.
After the 1962 border war with China, India has always been jittery and wary of the activities on the Chinese side of the border.
