By Francis Fernandes
The Doklam plateau is a matter of territorial integrity between China and a small kingdom of Bhutan. It is a disputed area involving both the nations but presently the Doka La or the Doklam plateau is in possession of Bhutan. Till date, Bhutan does not formally recognize People’s Republic of China and has a treaty of friendship with India which caters to its security needs and threats from external forces.
Mao Zedong was a founding father of the People’s Republic of China way back in 1949 and ruled the country as the Chairman of Communist Party of China until his death in 1976. He was a poet, political theorist and master strategist in warfare. Till date Maoist doctrine is followed by many Communist Parties in Asia, Africa and Europe. It was during his rule the Chinese aggression took place in 1962. The Indian PM then Jawaharlal Nehru never expected China to launch a military offensive which started as full scale war with just 10000 to 15000 Indian soldiers fighting against invading Chinese Army of 80000.It was a decisive victory for China with Indian posts and patrols demolished in Aksai China and territory of 38000 sq. miles was taken over by China with substantial casualties on the Indian soldiers. Aksai Chin forms a part of State of Jammu and Kashmir which the Indian Government held post signing Deed of Accession by the last Maharaja of Kashmir. The war lasted from 20th October to 21st November 1962. It was from this war the relations between the two countries got strained and both the nations became vigilant of each other activities along the borders.
In the month of June there was a standoff between Indian and Chinese armies in Bhutan where the Chinese were building a road through Bhutanese territory and the Indian army stopped them. This standoff has not ended yet with the Chinese Government asking the Indian Government to withdraw Indian forces from Bhutanese territory. Up north is Tibet an autonomous region of China which has a slice of territory that goes between Bhutan to the east and Sikkim to west. The Chinese road enters this slice of territory ending near a town known of Chumbi and proceeds towards the Doklam Plateau using Bhutanese territory very close where the Indian Army is positioned and hence stopped them advancing further. The master strategy of the Chinese is to proceed further to the Doklam plateau which is a tri-junction where the borders of the three nations China, Bhutan and India meet. The Dokla or the Doklam Plateau is a relatively flat area high up in the mountains sitting almost on Chimbu river valley. Should the Chinese be allowed to establish over the Doklam plateau they will be able to put the Indian army out of the way, they will then dominate the heights over the river valley and will be able to go further west and cut off the roads that are used for supplies to Nathu-La in Sikkim. This will leave the Chinese free to attack down south towards the Siliguri corridor or the chicken’s neck area in West Bengal where they could theoretically cut off North Eastern states from the rest of India.
Before launching a military offensive any country draws up contingency plans of cutting off supply of ammunition, communications, roads, medical, food and water to the enemy and this is done by seasoned experts of defence personnel from all units military, navy and air force. It appears the Chinese intention is to launch a military offensive given the fact China warned India not to test Beijing earlier and recently in July 2017, India should be ready for all-out confrontation in regard to Doklam standoff
In 1959 the Government of India offered political asylum to the Dalai Lama, Spiritual Head of Tibet which angered China and there were borders clashes between the two nations then and the recent visit of Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh in April this year following which the standoff in Doklam Plateau has taken place. China had warned India bilateral ties may suffer severe damage and peace and stability in the border areas could be affected if it allows the exiled leader Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh and his visit will amount as a provocation. India rubbished off the statement and said it is purely a spiritual visit. In reality China has a claim on Arunachal Pradesh as its territory and would not mind giving up Aksai Chin invaded during the 1962 aggression for return of Arunachal Pradesh. Perhaps this may be a master stroke to invade again through the Doklam plateau.
China being a permanent member of UNSC should have been proactive to maintain peace and stability in the sub-continent and try to settle the Kashmir issue by asking Pakistan to leave the Pakistan occupied Kashmir (POK) which is an integral part of the Union of India following signing the Deed of Accession in 1947 by and by virtue of the Shimla Agreement of 1972 signed between the then PM Indira Gandhi and President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan which clearly makes a mention of bilateral negotiations between the two nations to solve any problem involving Jammu and Kashmir.
China has been openly supporting another hostile neighbour Pakistan and this is evident from the facts. 1. China blocked India’s entry into the NSG and now is in favour of Pakistan getting entry into the NSG 2. In the UN, China blocked ban on Masood a Pakistani terrorist and a master mind of the Mumbai attacks 3. In the BRICS Summit held in Goa, China blocked India’s attempts to name Jaish e Mohammed and Laskar e Toiba wherein BRICS member states pledged to relentlessly pursue terrorist groups designated by United Nations Security Council.
In the ongoing standoff between China and India sovereignty of another nation Bhutan has been trespassed by China and now it has become a global issue after United States stood with India, Japan too has offered support for India and perhaps many more nations will stand by India. What our soldiers have done is to protect our borders from external aggression and uphold the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our country for which we all Indians have to salute the Indian Army.
