Doklam Standoff In Bhutan

The Doklam Standoff: Whose land is it anyway? China or Bhutan? Let’s begin this by understanding, Where is Doklam? Who owns it? How does China come into picture? Doklam is a miniscule kingdom of Himalaya in Bhutan. Hence, one can reasonably assume it to be owned by Bhutan right? Well, NO! In the history of claiming lands and seas, China has always been in the forefront. Be it with the South China sea dispute or with our very own Arunachal Pradesh, China believes it owns surely some part of any neighbouring land or sea and has historical records over disputes with its neighbouring nations.

This brings us to the second question, what does China want out of Doklam? Let’s breakdown the Doklam conundrum, Doklam is a trijunction

To which, India also advocated Bhutan’s stance and requested the Chinese military to immediately halt any construction to avoid any further conflict.

Since, both the parties made their respective claims of owning the territory, it soon spiralled into a stand-off between the Indian and the Chinese troops over Doklam. What exactly lies at the crux of the Doklam dispute? The dispute is not just about the territory size or road construction in Doklam. Bhutan shares about 470 km mammoth land with China in the west and north while India encompasses Bhutan for 605 km in the east, south and west. Before China assumed control over Tibet in 1959, the question of a limit was not as noteworthy for Bhutan for it had kept up and opened social and religious trades with its two neighbours - India and Tibet. The total area of land that falls under the land conflict between Bhutan and China is about 4,500 sq km. Before China took over Tibet in 1959, the boundary was not as significant for Bhutan for it had sustained and opened cultural and religious exchanges with its neighbours - India and

The Himalayan kingdom has always continued to be a culturally rich and happy nation instead of harbouring any geostrategic or political ambition. In my opinion, China is silently envisioning to become the ‘indisputed’ power in Asia so it can reasonably claim hegemony over most of its Asian counterparts. With respect to Bhutan, Doklam provides a wider boundary for China in the border. Constructing and building roads in Doklam is an easy way to connect with the Chumbi valley, near the Doklam plateau.

Chumbi valley and Doklam are strategically important since China’s easy access to these will lead to heavy military deployment near the border which is a matter of great concern for India. But since, India and Bhutan share healthy diplomatic and cultural ties and along with it having signed a formal Friendship Treaty, India has stepped up its military convoy and as a loyal friend helped Bhutan save its land. But, what really is in store for India? What does India stand to gain by coming in way of its another very strategically important country like China?

What economic or trade implications can this incident lead