Despite extreme provocation and pressure tactics from China, India unlikely to withdraw troops from Sikkim's Doklam

Despite simmering tension between New Delhi and Beijing over Doklam, the tri-junction of India, Bhutan and China, the Indian government seems to be in no mood to withdraw its troops from the region.

New Delhi: Despite simmering tension between New Delhi and Beijing over Doklam, the tri-junction of India, Bhutan and Tibet, the Indian government seems to be in no mood to withdraw  its troops from the region.

China has earlier demanded the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Indian troops as a pre-condition of talks on resolving complex border issues.

In a bid to increase pressure on India, the Chinese state-run media and its think-tanks have been warning India of serious military consequences if does not withdraw it troops from the Dokalm region, on which China claims its ownership.

Despite rising stridency in Chinese demands, Indian troops are digging in to protect the strategic topography that is just 30-km from a hydel project and overlooks the Bengal-Assam road link.

The hydro-electric project is located at Jaldhaka river at Jhalong which is not far from the border with Bhutan and is also a bridge for crossing over to the landlocked hill kingdom. 

The Jaldhaka, along with Torsha river, flows into the Brahmaputra and is part of a tract of land that could come under pressure if the Chinese build the road they are planning through Doklam plateau in Bhutan.

The Siliguri corridor, and the town itself, will be vulnerable if China gets to dominate ridge lines which will allow its troops to literally sit astride Indian territory. 

The road to Assam also runs through the narrow strip of territory that connects West Bengal to the northeast and any threat to it can snip the surface link from Bagdogra to Guwahati.

Given the importance of holding the current alignment and preventing China from altering this to its benefit, India is not likely to consider a pullout without some clear terms being arrived at first.

Though the Chinese are clearly annoyed at Indian troops stalling road work in an area that is near the tri-junction, Bhutan has strongly protested the intrusion on its territory. 

On Thursday, a top Chinese foreign ministry official said in Beijing that “The atmosphere is not right for a bilateral meeting”, between the two leaders.

Replying to his remarks, India said there is no question of a “conducive atmosphere or not” because India did not ask for a meetin between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the G20 summit in Germany's Hamburg city.

The comments were made by an Indian govt official after Beijing ruled out a one-on-one between the two leaders.

Importantly, the G20 summit begins in Hamburg on Friday.

India has said Beijing's action to "unilaterally determine tri-junction points" is in violation of a 2012 India-China agreement, which says the boundary will be decided by consulting all concerned parties.

India and China share a little over 200-km border in the Sikkim sector.

China's state-run media on Wednesday in an opinion piece said that Beijing would be forced to use "military" to end the standoff in the Sikkim sector if India refuses to listen to the "historical lessons" being offered by it.