Ajai Shukla

Asian Angle | Doklam a year on: Bhutan more worried about India than China

New Delhi must realise there are few takers in Bhutan for the logic that India’s military commitment gives it ownership over Thimphu’s security and economic decision-making

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Buddhist monks pass a power station in Bhutan’s capital of Thimphu. Photo: Reuters

Ajai Shukla

Published: 1:45pm, 18 Aug 2018Updated: 1:48pm, 18 Aug 2018

Last week, an Indian parliamentary panel fluttered the dovecotes in Thimphu – Bhutan’s capital – by recommending New Delhi encourage Bhutan to deploy more soldiers in the disputed Doklam area, where a year ago several hundred Indian and Chinese soldiers stood eyeball-to-eyeball, raising real fears of bloodshed.

Non-violent patrol confrontations are common along the undefined, 4,588km Sino-Indian border, but the face-off at Doklam was unique. Indian soldiers were not defending Indian soil; they had crossed into Bhutan and claimed to be acting on Thimphu’s behalf, in accordance with a security treaty between India and Bhutan. For the 73 days that Doklam smouldered, Thimphu walked on eggshells, balancing between India’s stifling embrace and the potential consequences from China.

Indian activists of the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party protest outside the Chinese embassy in New Delhi in the wake of border tensions between the neighbouring countries. Photo: AFP

The Doklam crisis ended with mixed results for India. As the Indian Army chief himself admitted in January, Chinese troops continue to occupy North Doklam, while Indian soldiers have pulled out of Doklam and returned to their outposts in Sikkim. On the positive side, India managed to force China to halt building a road in Doklam, which it was extending southwards, across the Torsa Nala, to its claim line at the Zompelri Ridge, which runs southeast from Mount Gipmochi. Indian military planners believe it essential to enforce Bhutan’s claim line along the Batang La – Sinche La ridge line, about 12-14km north of Zompelri Ridge. They worry that Chinese possession of Zompelri would give the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) a launching pad to capture the vulnerable Siliguri Corridor, a narrow, 29km-wide sliver of land, with Nepal on one side and Bangladesh on the other. It connects mainland India with its eight north-eastern states.

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Thus, in confronting China in Doklam, the Indian Army was protecting vital Indian interests more than enforcing the India-Bhutan security pact.