New Delhi: The opposition Congress party on Thursday asked the Indian government to clarify whether Bhutan and India have changed their positions on the Doklam tri-junction. The Congress also demanded an answer on what steps India was taking to ensure that strategic geographical features at the tri-junction did not fall to the Chinese.
The Congress statement on Thursday evening was issued against the backdrop of an interview of Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering in a Belgian newspaper, La Libre.
While the article was published on March 25, the French language interview came to light in the Indian media a few days ago.
In the interview, Tshering stated that negotiations on the tri-junction issue must be done with India’s involvement, even as he expressed that Bhutan will be able to demarcate some of its boundaries with China in a “meeting or two”.
The Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, claimed that the Narendra Modi government had “presented the 2017 Doklam standoff as a major victory”. But the Chinese have “engaged in unprecedented military infrastructure buildup” in the area and built villages and roads “many kilometres inside Bhutanese territory”, he said.
Stating that Doklam is strategic due to its proximity to the Siliguri corridor, Ramesh claimed that “the remark by the Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering that “there is no intrusion” into Bhutan by China and that Beijing has an “equal” say in any discussion over its illegal intrusions raises several concerns”.
Tshering’s reference to “no intrusions” in the interview was in answer to a question on reports that China was ‘salami-slicing’ Bhutan and building villages inside Bhutanese territory. “We said it categorically, there is no intrusion as mentioned in the media. This is an international border, and we know exactly what belongs to us,” he said.
However, the Bhutanese PM’s mention that China had an “equal” say was not about any intrusions but in the context of negotiations for the tri-junction point. “Doklam is a junction point between India, China and Bhutan. It is not up to Bhutan alone to fix the problem. There are three of us. There is no big or small country; all are three equal countries, each counting for one-third,” Tshering told the Belgian newspaper.
The senior Congress office-bearer then posed three questions to the government.
- Is there a dilution in the unwavering Indian and Bhutanese contention that the tri-junction of India, China and Bhutan lies at Batang La, and not at Mount Gipmochi as the Chinese claim? This could cause a serious problem for the security of the Siliguri Corridor.
- Recent Chinese construction reportedly includes an all-weather road in the Amu Chu river basin inside Bhutan moving south towards the Jhamperi Ridge that overlooks the Siliguri Corridor. Is China eyeing the coveted Jhamperi Ridge from a new angle? What is India doing to defend Bhutan and to prevent the Chinese from reaching this important geographical feature?
- When will the Modi government respond to China’s renewed verbal, geographical and military aggression?
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh. Photo: Screengrab via Twitter/@INCIndia
Stating that India and Bhutan’s “unshakeable” relationship is facing a challenge from “an aggressive China”, Ramesh urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi “to not hide behind smokescreens and ensure that this very long-standing partnership with Bhutan remains strong and is further deepened”.
While the Congress claimed that there has been “unwavering Indian and Bhutanese contention that the tri-junction of India lies at Batang La, and not at Mount Gipmochi as the Chinese claim”, the reality is a bit more nuanced.
Bhutan’s border with China has never been demarcated and has been subject to 24 rounds of border talks since 1984.
The Doklam crisis was triggered by Chinese troops constructing a road in Bhutan’s Doklam region in June 2017. After Indian soldiers challenged the Chinese contingent, a military stand-off continued for 73 days.
India had contended that the Chinese construction violated an agreement reached in 2012 as the construction of the road sought to “unilaterally” change the tri-junction boundary points.
The Ministry of External Affairs statement, dated June 30, 2017, said that in 2012, the two Asian giants had “reached agreement that the tri-junction boundary points between India, China and third countries will be finalized in consultation with the concerned countries”. India’s statement effectively meant that New Delhi believed the Doklam tri-junction point would be the agenda item for future boundary negotiations between India, China and Bhutan.
India’s former national security advisor, Shiv Shankar Menon, who was the special representative for boundary talks with China in 2012, had confirmed the existence of the agreement.
“In 2012, the SRs had a broad understanding that tri-junctions will be finalised in consultation with the third country concerned. This latest incident and statements saying this is Chinese territory are contrary to that understanding,” Menon told The Wire in July 2017.
The Bhutanese PM’s statement that three countries have a say in the ‘tri-junction’ is, therefore, in line with the Indian position. In fact, China had disputed India’s version of the 2012 understanding, claiming that there was no need for talks as the tri-junction location was already decided as per the colonial-era 1890 Convention.
However, Tshering revealed for the first time in the March 25 interview that Bhutan was very close to demarcating the border with China, which does not include Doklam.
“Last month, a Bhutanese delegation visited China, and we are now awaiting the arrival of a Chinese technical team in Bhutan. After one or two more meetings, we will probably be able to draw a line,” he said.
In October 2021, Bhutan and China had signed a “three-step roadmap” for expediting talks to demarcate their land boundary.
Tshering assumed that the trilateral talks for the Doklam tri-junction would only start once current tensions between India and China over the border were resolved. “We are ready. We can discuss this as soon as the other two parties are ready. India and China have problems all along their border. We are waiting to see how they will settle their differences.”