At heart is China’s bid to drive wedge between Indo-Bhutan ties
BEIJING CLAIMS IT HAS CONDUCTED JOINT SURVEYS IN BORDER AREA WITH THIMPHU AND A ‘CONSENSUS’ ON BOUNDARY ALIGNMENT HAS BEEN REACHED
would have to look at a new template in dealing with China.
Firstly, China has been more assertive over Doklam standoff than it had been in recent times. Second, and more importantly, it has challenged India’s special relationship with Bhutan.
For New Delhi, the dispute is on Bhutan territory and Indian troops went in, as per an understanding with the Himalayan kingdom, to stop China from constructing a road. Under a 2012 understanding between India and China on border issues, changing the status quo of trijunctions requires consent of third countries involved — in this case Bhutan, which lodged a diplomatic protest with China.
Instead, China has quoted liberally from the 1890 treaty between Great Britain and China to buttress its claim. Its foreign ministry on Wednesday mentioned a “non-paper” provided by the Indian side during a meeting of the special representatives on the boundary issue on May 10, 2006. As per Beijing, the two sides had agreed to the boundary alignment in the Sikkim sector under the 1890 treaty.
At the heart of this standoff is Beijing challenging India’s special relationship with Bhutan. A Chinese foreign ministry statement on Thursday puts emphasis that Beijing and Thimphu conducted joint surveys in the border area and have reached a “basic consensus on the actual state of the border area and the alignment of their boundary”.
Which, in other words, mean they are close to actual delimitation of the border, a result of 24 rounds of China-Bhutan talks.