New Delhi, December 11: In the freezing winter, around 1,800 Chinese troops have now virtually established a permanent presence in the Doklam area, near the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet trijunction. They have constructed two helipads, upgraded roads, pre-fabricated huts, shelters and stores in the high-altitude region.
While India was successful in not letting China extend its existing road in Doklam southwards towards the Jampheri ridge, but it has resulted in “the almost permanent stationing of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops in the region”, Indian security establishment sources said, the Times of India reported.
“Now, after the 73-day eyeball-to-eyeball troop confrontation at Doklam between India and China ended on August 28, the PLA troops have stayed put in what we consider to be Bhutanese territory for the first time this winter. But the status quo prevails at the earlier face-off site,” he added.
India and China were locked in a 73-day-long standoff at Doklam, an area claimed by both Bhutan and China. India had intervened on Bhutan’s behalf as Chinese building activities threatened ‘Chicken’s Neck’– a narrow strip of land connecting Indian mainland to its northeastern states. The Indian Army and the China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had, on August 28, decided to disengage their troops from the disputed area.
