Both China and India refrain from mentioning ‘road construction’; patrols to continue
Days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to head for Beijing for multilateral talks, India and China ended the long-standing military standoff at Doklam with both sides pulling back troops while retaining their rights to patrol the disputed region.
The announcement to disengage came after several rounds of back channel talks — an indication of which was given by home minister Rajnath Singh last Monday — and the realisation that a stalemate had been achieved on the border itself.
The language used by both sides to announce the disengagement is revealing. Both sides have been careful not to mention the core cause of the standoff — Chinese road construction activity.
The Indian government said that the “expeditious disengagement” of troops has been almost completed and that “it is only through diplomatic channels that differences on such matters can be addressed”.
The Army, which has been engaged in the face-off for over two months, said that the disengagement has been agreed upon and is being carried out. What this translates on the ground is that troops are now vacating the standoff point on the Bhutan border where temporary tents had been set up and even a makeshift mud wall made by the Indian side.
A short statement from China said that Indian troops have “gone back” and that its troops will continue patrolling the area. While this has been construed by some as being at variance from the Indian line, the fact that both sides patrol the Doklam plateau is a return to status quo.
For the Indian side, the position was clear that it had only deployed troops from Bhutanese territory to prevent China from creating a critical road leading up to Doklam. The limited purpose of the standoff has been achieved as road construction has been halted as of now. Patrolling on disputed territory is an old practice followed by both sides.
Doklam and similar pockets across the disputed border are likely to remain points of contention between India and China. A takeaway from this standoff is that India and China perhaps need to revisit and revise the standard operating procedures for border disagreements and perhaps have a new mechanism for talks.
ThePrint’s Editor Pranab Samanta and Deputy Editor Manu Pubby discuss the Doklam disengagement and its implications.