India: No change since disengagement

WASHINGTON: There is no new development in the Doklam area since the disengagement of security personnel of India and China last August, the ministry of external affairs said on Thursday.

“The status quo prevails in this area,” the ministry said in a statement in response to “incorrect” reports that a US official had said at a congressional hearing that the Chinese had resumed their activities in Doklam.

“The press reports attributing remarks on Doklam to a US official (are) incorrect,” the MEA spokesperson said.

“I would reiterate that since the disengagement of Indian and Chinese border personnel in the Doklam area on 28 August 2017, there have been no new developments at the face-off site and its vicinity.”

Without citing evidence or source, Republican lawmaker Anne Wagner had said at Wednesday’s congressional hearing: “China has quietly resumed its activities in Doklam and neither Bhutan nor India has sought to dissuade it”.

She wanted to know from US officials deposing at the hearing how US failure to respond to the militarisation of the South China Sea should inform the international response to the Himalayan border dispute.

In her reply, Alice G Wells, who heads the south and central Asia bureau at the state department, made no reference to the situation in Doklam and said, “I would assess that India is vigorously defending its northern borders and this is a subject of concern to India as it looks ahead to its own own strategic stability.”

On US policy generally, Wells said, “the Indo-Pacific strategy put forward by this administration … is taken in the light of the South China Sea strategy — how do we maintain the region to be open, to have maritime security, to not have militarization that would imperil the 70% of global trade”.