Foreign Affairs
China Is Intensifying Pressure On Bhutan To Cede Doklam And Sakteng Regions Bordering India
The dragon covets Bhutan.
China has stepped up pressure on Bhutan to give up its claims on chunks of its territories on its eastern and western borders in exchange for China giving up its claims over Jakarlung and Pasamlung in Bhutan’s northern border with Chinese-occupied Tibet (CoT).
As part of this diabolic pressure tactic, Beijing has set up and expanded three villages in the Pasamlung area that belongs to Bhutan but had been forcibly taken over by China through its notorious ‘salami-slicing’ tactics.
According to reports in the Hong-Kong based South China Morning Post, China has relocated a couple of hundred people from Shigatse in CoT to Tamalung and Gyalaphug — two new villages that it has built in Pasamlung.
Soon after taking over large swathes of Pasamlung, China established a few small villages there. Tamalung and Gyalphug are two of six such villages.
Over the past two months, China has bussed in hundreds of hapless Tibetans and settled them down in these villages.
Admittedly, they have been given good houses in these villages that have a lot of modern infrastructure. The settlers have also been provided with yaks and other means of livelihood.
Four new villages with a total of about 210 houses, along with other infrastructure, have also been built in Jakarlung.
The objective is to intensify pressure on Bhutan to concede to China’s demand for 269 square kilometres of territory in the strategically placed Doklam in western Bhutan at the India-Bhutan-CoT trijunction and another hundred-odd square kilometres at Sakteng in the Himalayan kingdom’s east.
China has offered a ‘package deal’ to Bhutan: give up Doklam and Sakteng in exchange for China withdrawing from the 269 square kilometres at Jakarlung and Pasamlung in north Bhutan.
Beijing has told Bhutanese leaders that it is willing to undertake a joint survey of the border, concede all territorial claims by Bhutan (except, of course, Doklam and Sakteng) and permanently mark the border to achieve a perpetual solution to the border disputes between the two countries.
Chinese leaders have told their Bhutanese counterparts that in exchange for accepting this ‘package deal’, Beijing will pour in millions of dollars into the land-locked Himalayan kingdom for infrastructure and other developmental projects.
“The Chinese are desperate to gain control over Doklam because that will give them their biggest leverage over India. Beijing knows very well that as long as Bhutan does not voluntarily surrender Doklam to China’s control, India will back Bhutan militarily at Doklam,” said a senior Indian Army veteran who retired as a Brigadier and was part of the Indian Military Training Team (IMTRAT) in Bhutan.
“It will be impossible to even capture Doklam through use of force because the Doklam plateau provides a huge strategic advantage to the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA), backed by the Indian Army, over China’s PLA which is amassed at Chumbi Valley. The Doklam plateau overlooks Chumbi Valley, thus precluding any military adventurism by China,” the Indian Army veteran explained.
Doklam holds immense strategic importance for India since it overlooks the vulnerable and narrow Siliguri corridor that connects North East India with the rest of the country. If China gains control of the Doklam plateau, the Siliguri corridor will be at risk and China will be able to cut off this link between India and its northeastern region.
India and China were locked in a months-long standoff over Doklam in mid-2017. China had started constructing a road in Doklam, which lies well within Bhutan, claiming it as its own territory.
India moved swiftly to back Bhutan in a faceoff with China. China ultimately backed down in August that year, but has been pressing its claim over Doklam since then.
In mid-2020, Beijing sprung a surprise (read this) by laying claim on Sakteng in eastern Bhutan. Sakteng lies near the India-Bhutan-CoT trijunction and borders Arunachal Pradesh.
Sakteng is also of strategic importance as it overlooks western Arunachal Pradesh and a strategic highway that leads to vital military installations like Tawang and Zemithang on the India-CoT border.
China, say strategic experts, is not really interested in Jakarlung and Pasamlung. “China’s eyes are firmly fixed on the Doklam plateau. It has been putting a lot of pressure on Bhutan to hand over this area to China in exchange for a lot of doles (in the form of infra projects) and other concessions. Beijing has been able to influence a section of Bhutan’s intelligentsia in its favour in this regard,” said Abhay Srivastava, a China watcher who had served in the Indian mission in Thimpu earlier.
Jakarlung and Pasamlung are merely pawns being used by Beijing in its game to wrest control over Doklam.
India has initiated an array of moves to counter China. Apart from strengthening the IMTRAT with technical resources, India has also been helping the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) with sophistical equipment and advanced training, including in robotics.
New Delhi has also enhanced its outreach to Bhutan’s civil society through a plethora of programmes that enhance people-to-people contacts.
“We are now engaging even more closely with the elected government of Bhutan in helping it take the country forward in a sustainable manner. The monarchy is very close to India, and we are ensuring that the country’s political establishment also remains close to us,” an IFS officer, who had served as first secretary in the Indian Embassy at Thimpu, told Swarajya.
India has also stepped up its efforts to make Bhutan’s politicians, diplomats, academia, policy-framers, influencers and other sections of civil society aware of the pitfalls of the ‘Chinese embrace’ and how it has left many countries in Africa, and also Sri Lanka, in utter penury. This is being done very subtly but in a concentrated manner for maximum effect, the diplomat said.
Along with all this, development assistance to Bhutan has also been stepped up. A number of projects that will help Bhutan adhere to its sustainable development charter have been sanctioned over the last two years.
“Our efforts are meeting with success. Bhutan’s political establishment has realised that China’s intentions are sinister and China will not rest content with only the Doklam plateau but will continue to make territorial claims. Many of those who matter in Bhutan are recognising the truth that China is expansionist and cannot be trusted,” a joint secretary at India’s Ministry of External Affairs told Swarajya.
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