New Delhi – After repeatedly failing to back down in a standoff with Chinaatop the disputed Doklam plateau (a tri-junction of India, China, andBhutan) for almost seven months, the Indian defense ministry hasacknowledged that China has been building massive infrastructure near theface-off site post-disengagement, in August last year.
Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s Minister of Defense, informed parliament thatthe strengths of both sides have been reduced after a truce, but incessantinfrastructure build-up is in progress in the region held by China’sPeople’s Liberation Army (PLA).
“After disengagement from the 2017 standoff, the troops of both sides haveredeployed themselves away from their respective positions at the face-offsite. The strengths of both sides have been reduced. In order to maintainthese troops during the winter, the People Liberation Army (PLA) hasundertaken the construction of some infrastructure, including sentry posts,trenches, and Helipads,” Nirmala Sitharaman replied to query in ParliamentMonday.
Last week, Subhash Bhamre, India’s Minister of State for Defense had saidduring the Army’s annual conference that the situation along India’s borderwith China was “sensitive” and had the potential to escalate.
On whether India has taken up the matter with China, Sitharaman repliedthat issues related to the border are regularly taken up with the Chinesethrough diplomatic channels and at border personnel meetings, flag meetingsand meetings of the working mechanism for consultation and coordinationon India-China border affairs.
The revelation comes against the backdrop of New Delhi’s effortto normalize the situation on the Chinese border ahead of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Qingdao for the Shanghai CooperationOrganization (SCO) summit on June 9 later this year.
Earlier this month, the English daily The Indian Express had reported thatthe country’s topmost bureaucrat PK Sinha had sent a directive to all thegovernment officials and state governments to avoid the events being stagedby the Tibetan government in exile to celebrate the Dalai Lama’s lifein India. However, India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Friday deniedhaving imposed any restrictions on the Dalai Lama’s activities.
“There is no change in that position. His holiness is accorded all freedomto carry out his religious activities in India,” Raveesh Kumar,spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statementlink>.
Indian and Chinese troops were involved in a bitter standoff which lastedfor 73 days last summer at Doklam after Indian troops, on the behestof Bhutan, stopped the Chinese Peoples’ Liberation Army from constructing aroad in the area that is claimed by both China and Bhutan as their own.