Bhutanese border management controlled by India
Some Indian media recently hyped a Chinese village existed two kilometers inside Bhutanese territory, a claim proven to be false and denied by Bhutanese officials.
Indian media NDTV reported on Thursday the Chinese had built a residential area within Bhutanese territory and named it “Pangda village.” But the satellite images and documents showed the village was without a doubt inside Chinese territory. Vetsop Namgyel, Bhutan’s envoy to
India, also publicly denied the existence of a Chinese village in its territory.
“A lot of information in the Indian media is false. They are making every effort to drive a wedge between China and Bhutan,” a Bhutan resident, who preferred to be called Kelly, told the
Global Times on Tuesday.
However, most Bhutanese didn’t know they are fake news, because 70 percent of Bhutan’s local television channels are carrying Indian programming, Kelly said.
Wangcha Sangey, a legal consultant for the Bhutanese news portal bhutannewsnetwork. com, published several articles denouncing India’s involvement in the issues of Sino- Bhutanese border demarcation, saying China’s negotiation with Bhutan on the border dispute is beneficial for the demarcation of the boundary between the two sides, while India’s involvement is an act of surrendering sovereignty to another nation.
According to Sangey, from the late 1960s and through the 1970s, the Indian government tried to negotiate on behalf of Bhutan with China over the issue of China- Bhutan border demarcation.
After being rejected by China, India continued to press Bhutan in the subsequent border negotiations, demanding that Bhutan ask China for more territory of strategic significance.
In 2017, the Indians crossed into Chinese territory under the pretext of “protecting Bhutan” and provoked an incident in the Doklam area.
Sangey commented that India just used Bhutan to secure New Delhi’s interest and although Bhutan was reluctant to get involved, in many cases, they have to play the role of India’s interest agent in the Sino- Bhutan border dispute.
The Global Times reporter tried to interview Sangey during a visit to Bhutan in 2017 amid the continuously escalating Doklam standoff. The intermediary contacted for the interview initially said Sangey was willing to be interviewed, but could not talk about the situation and relationship between China and India due to the potential repercussions.
But by the time the reporters arrived in Bhutan, Sanjay could no longer be reached. “A gag order may have been received,” The intermediary said.
The Global Times found that in Haa district, the town closest to the Doklam confrontation area on the Bhutanese side of the border between China and Bhutan, Indian troops have been stationed for more than half a century. Haa district – home to 13,000 – had more than 500 Indian soldiers in its district capital alone.
Local residents were also not allowed to discuss the Sino- Indian conflict or trade with China. To make a living, they had to import Chinese goods from Nepal or even smuggle them.
China has settled its land boundary lines with 12 neighboring countries through peaceful negotiations since 1949, accomplishing the demarcation work of 90 percent of its borders.
In 2019, China invited all neighboring countries to join an international conference on boundary cooperation, attracting officials and scholars from 12 of China’s neighbors.
Letho Tobdhen Tangbi, representative from Bhutan, delivered a speech during the conference, saying that Bhutan and China have kept communications on border issues.
But India, one of the only two countries that have not settled land boundary lines with China, did not show up.
“Under its ‘ confused confidence,’ India can’t tolerate the influence of China, or even the US, to rise in the South Asia. India bears the great- nation chauvinism in the region,” Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow at the Institute of International Relations of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Indian media can always propagate fake news to smear China. Contrary to what the Indian government has been imagining, China does not see India as an enemy or target, let alone “the ruler of South Asia,” Hu said.