Images Show China Making Inroads Close To Doklam – Attempt To Get Around Indian Defenses?

According to recent satellite pictures obtained by NDTV, a Chinese hamlet that was built 9 km east of the Doklam plateau, where Indian and Chinese soldiers clashed in 2017, is now entirely populated, with automobiles parked at almost every residence.

Importantly, Bhutanese territory encompasses the settlement Beijing refers to as Pangda, information about which was originally published by NDTV in 2021.

Chinese laborers have been physically barred from reaching the Jhamperi ridge in Doklam by the Indian military in 2017. There are currently worries that China is attempting to use this other axis to reach the same ridge to avoid Indian defenses to the west.

Lt. General Praveen Bakshi (retired), who was in charge of India’s Eastern Army at the time of the Doklam conflict in 2017, claims that Pangda village and the ones to its north and south are classic examples of the Chinese trying to establish their legitimacy over the Jhamperi ridge and the Doklam plateau. Chinese plans to build several communities along disputed borders are “basically a way of adding credibility to its territorial claim.

In 2017, the Indian military forcibly prevented Chinese laborers from traveling to the Jhamperi ridge in Doklam. There are present concerns that China is seeking to bypass Indian fortifications to the west by using this second axis to reach the same ridge.

Pangda hamlet and the ones to its north and south, according to Lt. General Praveen Bakshi (retired), who oversaw India’s Eastern Army during the Doklam battle in 2017, are typical instances of the Chinese attempting to consolidate their authority over the Jhamperi range and the Doklam plateau. Chinese ambitions to develop several villages near disputed boundaries are “essentially a technique of legitimizing its territorial claim,” according to one expert.

In 2017, Indian forces forcibly stopped Chinese laborers from reaching the Jhamperi ridge in Doklam. There are also worries that China is attempting to use this other axis to attack the same ridge to get over Indian defenses to the west.