China sets up village in Bhutan, 9KM from the standoff site.
On Thursday, November 19 a senior journalist, with the Chinese state media shared images in a series of tweets which have now been deleted by Shen Shiwei the senior producer with Chinese CGTN News. The images showed a village setup in the Doklam area and later mentioned the exact location of the new settlement according to prominent news channels.
The village has been set up by China inside Bhutan’s territory by 2KM. The area is close to Doklam where the armies of China and India have seen an intense faceoff in 2017.
Chinese village of Pangda is 2KMs inside Bhutanese territory and this ultimately raises fear for India of what is known as ‘salami-slicing’ which refers to Beijing’s attempt to cut into Indian and Bhutanese territories.
In the tri-junction of India, China and Bhutan lies the area of Doklam. China is building a road in this location which further enables China to reach the Siliguri corridor of India.
The 2017 Doklam standoff has been the most serious face offs in decades between India and China before the eastern Ladakh conflict earlier this year. This clash between the two nations left 20 Indian Army soldiers dead and an unspecified number of Chinese casualties.
The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now.