Recent satellite images of China’s car-and-garden utopian village along the Amu Chu in disputed territory with Bhutan and the spate of border villages across the LAC, particularly in the central and eastern sectors, are part of the Chinese Communist Party’s Fortress Tibet exercise.
Although India has sensitized Bhutan to China and relocated villages along the Amu Chu to re-align border claims in the disputed tri-junction area near the Doklam Plateau, Beijing’s larger goal is to consolidate its border claims along the 3,488 km Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India and the 477 km disputed border with Thimpu.
According to Beijing observers, the strategy to build model villages near the LAC and in disputed territory with Bhutan, then relocate the population and rehabilitate ex-soldiers, is part of President Xi Jinping’s plan to build an impregnable fortress to assert Chinese Han rule in Tibet. and destroy separatism by sinicizing Tibetan Buddhism in the autonomous region. The same exercise is taking place in the Sunni-dominated Xinjiang province, and the Islamic leadership is looking the other way.
Recent satellite images of China’s car-and-garden utopian village along the Amu Chu in disputed territory with Bhutan and the spate of border villages across the LAC, particularly in the central and eastern sectors, are part of the Chinese Communist Party’s Fortress Tibet exercise.
As India watches China’s plan unfold along its northern borders and on the border with Bhutan, it is engaged in tough negotiations with the PLA to resolve the May 2020 trespass by the Chinese military without giving up any of its land claims. While there have been reports that the PLA is willing to disengage from patrol post 15 in the Khugrang Nullah area of eastern Ladakh, the fact is that in the last meeting of senior military commanders on the 17th ante along the 1597 km long LAC in eastern Ladakh.
Although de-escalation and de-escalation in Eastern Ladakh is not a priority for Beijing, the Narendra Modi government is clear that normalization of bilateral relations will only follow the resolution of the Eastern Ladakh LAC and the Indian Army is allowed normal patrolling along its border at 65 points defined on the map. The Indian side wants the PLA to stop blocking Indian Army patrols in Depsang Bulge area of DBO sector and Charding Nullah junction area of Demchok sector. The Modi government also wants Xi’s regime to abide by the 1993 and 1996 bilateral border agreements signed by top leadership on both sides.
Even as both armies are deployed in full strength along the Ladakh LAC, senior commanders on both sides are in touch with each other, reducing the risk of sudden escalation on the border. However, the Indian side knows that the PLA only understands the language of military power and refuses any dialogue to resolve the border issue. Just as the PLA tried to enforce the already rejected 1959 line unveiled by then Chinese Premier Zhou En-Lai in eastern Ladakh, LAC, it is encroaching on Bhutanese territory by pushing against its tiny neighbor in the Doklam tri-junction area while ostensibly in the border dialogue with Thimpu.
China’s aggression is expected to increase further after President Xi Jinping is re-elected for a third term later this year, as the perennial leader sets his sights on reclaiming Taiwan and consolidating Buddhist Tibet and Sunni Muslim-dominant Xinjiang through coercion and military force .