Congress sounds China alarm on ties with Bhutan

The Congress on Thursday said the recent utterances of Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering indicate that the unshakeable relationship between Bhutan and India is now facing a challenge from an aggressive China, and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to hide behind smokescreens and ensure that this long-standing partnership is deepened.

Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said in a statement: “The Modi government presented the 2017 Doklam standoff as a major victory. Yet since then, the Chinese have engaged in an unprecedented military infrastructure buildup in the area. They have also built villages and roads adjacent to the Doklam plateau many kilometres inside Bhutanese territory.”

Ramesh added: “It is well-known that the adjacent Chumbi Valley poses a potential threat to India’s strategic Siliguri Corridor, the so-called Chicken’s Neck that connects the seven northeastern states with the rest of the country. In this context, the remark by the Bhutanese Prime Minister that ‘there is no intrusion’ into Bhutan by China and that Beijing has an ‘equal’ say in any discussion over its illegal intrusions raises several concerns.”

Asking the Centre to respond to China’s renewed verbal, geographical and military aggression, Ramesh said: “Is there a dilution in the unwavering Indian and Bhutanese contention that the tri-junction of India, China and Bhutan lies at Batang La, and not at Mount Gipmochi as the Chinese claim? This could cause a serious problem for the security of the Siliguri Corridor.”

He further said: “Recent Chinese construction reportedly includes an all-weather road in the Amu Chu river basin inside Bhutan moving south towards the Jhamperi Ridge that overlooks the Siliguri Corridor. Is China eyeing the coveted Jhamperi Ridge from a new angle? What is India doing to defend Bhutan and to prevent the Chinese from reaching this important geographical feature?”

Recalling the past, he said: “Bhutan and India have enjoyed the closest of relations since 1949. In September 1958, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru made the first state visit by an Indian PM to Bhutan.At age 69, PM Nehru trekked for almost 105km for ten days to Bhutan at altitudes touching 15,000 feet with a dozen yaks, several ponies and a pack of over a hundred animals. Ever since then Bhutan and India have enjoyed an excellent bilateral relationship that has benefitted both countries.”