How will New Delhi respond now? Stay tuned for live updates:
Jul 6, 2017 1:39 pm (IST)
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a “very good meeting” on the sidelines of SCO Summit on June 9 in Astana before the PLA action along the borders of Sikkim and in Bhutan. Xi is currently in Moscow on a state visit ahead of his trip to Germany.
Jul 6, 2017 1:36 pm (IST)
The atmosphere is not right for a bilateral meet between President Xi Jinping and PM Narendra Modi at the G20 summit in Hamburg, say Chinese Foreign Ministry officials.
Jul 6, 2017 11:14 am (IST)
India is confident that we don’t need to react with the same jingoism as China. The Chinese are making a fool of themselves. The situation could stretch on for some time. Countries around China are realising that they are being pushed to the wall. The provocation could be because of the One Belt, One Road snub by India: Sushant Sareen, Strategic Affairs Analyst to CNN-News18.
Jul 6, 2017 11:03 am (IST)
Top government sources tell CNN-News18 that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was briefed in Israel late on Wednesday evening by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary on the India-China Doklam standoff situation.
Jul 6, 2017 11:01 am (IST)
ALSO READ | Doklam Standoff Could Usher in ‘New Normal’ Between India & China
Jul 6, 2017 11:01 am (IST)
CNN-News18’s Zakka Jacob: There is a section within Bhutan’s opposition and also in its business community which would prefer to go for a swap with China on the contested Doklam plateau in exchange for the northern hills which are much greater in area and significance to the Bhutanese. With elections slated next year, these divisions within Bhutan’s political class will only further sharpen. The Chinese have very tactically tried to test the Bhutan-India friendship at such a sensitive time. If not handled carefully, India could end up in the same situation vis-a-vis Bhutan as it found itself with Nepal some years ago.
Jul 6, 2017 10:59 am (IST)
CNN-News18’s Zakka Jacob: India’s boycott of the Belt and Road Initiative Forum in Beijing in May has been taken as a personal insult to Chinese President Xi Jinping. One Belt, One Road is as much a personal project to Xi as Swachh Bharat is to Prime Minister Modi. In hindsight, India should not have boycotted the Forum despite its valid and legitimate sovereignty concerns regarding CPEC. Even countries like America and Japan, who don’t enjoy the best of relations with Beijing, sent token representatives to the forum. India could have done the same.
Jul 6, 2017 10:31 am (IST)
CNN-News18’s Zakka Jacob: The facts on the ground are contested by both sides. China says Indian troops have violated sovereign Chinese territory and intruded and have set the withdrawal of troops as a pre-condition for any negotiation. India says it was only after the Chinese tried to build a road, unilaterally changing the status quo, and it was upon a request from the Royal Bhutan Army that the Indian troops got involved.
Jul 6, 2017 10:30 am (IST)
CNN-News18’s Zakka Jacob: The standoff between Indian and Chinese troops at the Doklam plateau is now officially the longest between both countries since the 1962 war. There have been similar face-offs in the past, but this time it seems extraordinary for the optics and messaging surrounding the altercation. The Chinese are publically ratcheting up the pressure, climbing the escalation ladder, one day at a time. This, for a country which believes in ‘saving face’ in public is something quite extraordinary in itself.
Jul 6, 2017 10:18 am (IST)
RECAP | India on June 30 expressed deep concern over China constructing the road in the disputed area and said it had conveyed to Beijing that such an action would represent a significant change of status quo with “serious” security implications for India. India has pushed in more troops in a “non-combative mode” to strengthen its position in the area. This is the longest standoff between the two armies since 1962.
Jul 6, 2017 10:17 am (IST)
RECAP | China and India have been engaged in a standoff in the Doklam area in Sikkim sector near the Bhutan trijunction for the past 20 days after a Chinese army’s construction party came to build a road. Doka La is a pass in India which adjoins the Doklam plateau in Bhutan. China is also embroiled in a dispute with Bhutan over Dokalam. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Doklam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region. China and Bhutan are engaged in talks over the resolution of the area. Bhutan, however, has no diplomatic ties with China and it is supported militarily and diplomatically by India.
Jul 6, 2017 10:08 am (IST)
RECAP | India stepped up surveillance of the Doklam area via real-time satellite imagery to monitor any movement of Chinese troops and daily images from ISRO’s CartoSat series were being shared with the government, defence sources told CNN-News18. Local troops were also videographing on-ground activities, they added.
Jul 6, 2017 10:05 am (IST)
RECAP | On Wednesday, India’s Rukmini Naval Satellite picked up the presence of a Chinese naval surveillance ship in the Indian Ocean as the two regional giants remain locked in a standoff in the Doklam area of the India-China-Bhutan tri-junction. The HaiwangXiang – China’s latest surveillance ship – seemed to have been sent to monitor the Malabar Exercise between the United States, Japan and India. The naval exercise will be held in the Bay of Bengal from July 10.
Jul 6, 2017 9:53 am (IST)
CLICK TO READ | China Threatens to ‘Rethink’ Stance on Sikkim and Bhutan
Jul 6, 2017 9:53 am (IST)
In further provocation, the Global Times also accused India of “playing the Dalai Lama” card in the past, but said it will now exert no “additional effect” on the Tibet issue as India has “overplayed” the card. Calling the India-China relationship as “complicated”, it said Beijing is “more powerful yet unwilling to face a confrontation with New Delhi”.
Jul 6, 2017 9:52 am (IST)
The Global Times article alleged that “the annexation of Sikkim is like a nightmare haunting Bhutan”. Sikkim became a part of India in May 1976 and is the only Indian state which has a demarcated border with China. The lines are based on a treaty signed with the Chinese in 1898. The state-run media, however, has asked the country’s leadership to ignore the Chinese recognition of Sikkim as an Indian state and “readjust its stance on the matter”.
Jul 6, 2017 9:51 am (IST)
The state-run Chinese media continued to fuel the Doklam fire “advising” Beijing to “rethink” its stance on Sikkim and Bhutan. An editorial in Global Times says “voices in Chinese society supporting Sikkim’s independence… will spread and fuel pro-independence appeals in Sikkim”. The article also accuses India of “control and oppression over Bhutan”. “Bhutan has not established diplomatic ties with its neighbor China or any other permanent member of the UN Security Council…. Through unequal treaties, India has severely jeopardised Bhutan’s diplomatic sovereignty and controls its national defense,” it claimed.
Jul 6, 2017 9:49 am (IST)
CLICK TO READ | China Rattles Sabres Again, Says Withdraw Troops Before Talking
Jul 6, 2017 9:43 am (IST)
Attempting to prove his point that Doklam belonged to China, Li Ya claimed that archives of the Xizang autonomous region still retained some receipts of the grass tax being paid by Bhutanese herdsmen. “Since Doklam is a part of Chinese territory, activities conducted by China in the area are within our sovereignty. It is the Indian side that has trespassed into Chinese territory and changed the status quo. This is not acceptable to China. Indian troops must pull back immediately and unconditionally,” said Political Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in India, Li Ya.
Jul 6, 2017 9:41 am (IST)
“I have been to the India-China and Bhutan-China border area many times and have first-hand knowledge about Doklam… the section is delimited by the convention between China and Great Britain relating to Tibet and Sikkim in 1890. In essence, China’s territorial sovereignty has been undermined by the Indian troops,” said Political Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in India, Li Ya. “Based on my knowledge, work on the India-China and China-Bhutan boundary affairs in the past decade, I would like to say that India’s positions and claims are groundless. We have strong evidence to prove that Doklam belongs to China. The area has always been the traditional pasture for Chinese border inhabitants.”
Jul 6, 2017 9:36 am (IST)
The Political Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in India, Li Ya, has in a statement on Thursday claimed that there was “no substance” to India’s claim that the Doklam area belongs to Bhutan. Li Ya further claims that China had “many old records” to prove that Doklam belonged to China. In a video issued by the Chinese Embassy of a briefing by Li Ya on the latest development in Doklam area, the counsellor states that for resolving the standoff between both armies, India would need to withdraw its troops “unconditionally” and with “immediate effect” as a precondition for any meaningful dialogue between India and China.
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Source: News18