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THREAD: Lost victory in Doklam
Look at Google Earth images of eastern Doklam of December 2019 & you will see the village foundations on the banks of the Mochu river and a #Chinese road going further south, towards #India, along the west bank of the river. https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/lost-victory-doklam/?amp&__twitter_impression=true
Look at Google Earth images of eastern Doklam of December 2019 & you will see the village foundations on the banks of the Mochu river and a #Chinese road going further south, towards #India, along the west bank of the river. https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/lost-victory-doklam/?amp&__twitter_impression=true
When India & China agreed to disengage in Doklam on 28 August 2017, most Indian analysts immediately declared that this had been a diplomatic victory for India. Retired Brigadier Anil Gupta said that “the Chinese have submitted to India’s will.”
Taylor Fravel questioned the “emerging consensus that India ‘won’ & China ‘lost’”. He said that the fact that the Indians withdrew first & that Chinese would continue to patrol Doklam as they did in the past & maintain the new road they built, indicated that victory was premature
In Doklam, the Chinese let their road remain unfinished, as of December 2017, far from thinning down, as claimed by Indian govt officials, the PLA had fortified northern Doklam by creating shelters, as many as seven helipads, munition storage sites, missile dumps & a radar site.
Having consolidated themselves in the northern half of the plateau & having been foiled from going to the south, they began building roads on their side of Torsa Nallah, with one moving south, which could presumably bridge the Nallah & go towards the Zompelri (Jampheri) ridge.
It soon became clear that the Chinese intended to occupy the entire disputed area. Their last step was to move along their claim line on the west bank of the Mochu river and build an entire village and a road along the Mochu (Amo Chu) river which forms the eastern part of Doklam.
From the village the Chinese built a road along the river going south towards India. So far, 10-15 kms are built, & it will not be surprising if it develops lateral branches going west to reach the Zompelri (Jampheri) ridge from a direction that's difficult for India to interdict
As for the Bhutanese, they can't do anything. When asked about this development, the Bhutanese Ambassador to India said “There is no Chinese village on Bhutanese territory.” Experts said it's at least 2.5 kms into Bhutan & the road goes along the Mochu 10-15 kms towards India.