India is running out of time in Doklam dispute with China

Zhou Bo says the stakes are high for both India and China, but New Delhi’s moral disadvantages in the issue, including its stance towards Bhutan, a sovereign state, weaken its position

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Chinese troops carry out a live-fire military exercise in Tibet amid a stand-off with India on the border, on July 17. Photo: Handout

Published: 2:10pm, 24 Jul 2017Updated: 8:48am, 25 Jul 2017

The stand-off between Chinese and Indian troops in the Doklam area of the Sikkim section of the China-India border since June 18 shows no sign of abating. The question is: who will blink first?

China maintains that the trespass by Indian border troops into Chinese territory took place at the undisputed Sikkim section, defined by a Sino-British treaty relating to Sikkim and Tibet in 1890. A Chinese spokesman was confident enough to quote what Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru wrote to premier Zhou Enlai ( 周恩來 ) on September 26, 1959, that: “There is no dispute over the boundary between Sikkim and Xi Zang, China”. The Indian government tactically avoided mentioning the 1890 convention, but stated that China unilaterally violated a 2012 agreement on the tri-junction boundary points between India, China and third countries.

Bhutan can sort out its border with China – if India lets it

India is at a moral disadvantage for two reasons: first, New Delhi admits that this is not a territorial dispute between India and China. Indian army chief General Bipin Rawat told the Hindustan Times on June 27 that there was no incursion into India.

Secondly, even if India believes Doklam belongs to Bhutan, which China disagrees with, it sent in troops without notifying Bhutan – a sovereign state.

Watch: China’s foreign ministry reports serious incursion

The question is how would Bhutan look like a sovereign state to India? It is no secret that India can hardly live in amity with most of its neighbours. Bhutan appears to be the only exception, but the rapprochement was, in part, driven by fear and maintained at the cost of Bhutan’s sovereignty – if not dignity. According to the 1949 Treaty of Friendship between India and Bhutan, renegotiated in 2007, Bhutan agreed to be “guided” by India in its external relations, an unusual move for any sovereign state.

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