From C.K Nayak
NEW DELHI: The India-China standoff on Sikkim border is over a road in a disputed territory in Bhutan, but its strategic implication will be huge for the North East because it makes the famous chicken neck Siliguri corridor — the region’s lifeline and underbelly — vulnerable due to the communist neighbour.
The geo-strategic road to the east of Sikkim has a commanding view of the Chumbi Valley (largely held by China) and overlooks the narrow Siliguri corridor that links the North East to the rest of India. If the Chinese gain control of Donglang, they gain the ability to essentially cut off India’s access to the northeastern states in case of a conflict, defence experts said.
The standoff with China is in Bhutan’s territory and in a disputed area that is controlled by Thimphu but coveted by Beijing. The 89-sqkm Chumbi valley, sitting between Sikkim and Bhutan, is an unresolved boundary dispute Beijing has with Thimphu.
Precisely for this reason Bhutan, a largely Buddhist country, has already issued a demarche to China. Bhutan is a protectorate of India and has little diplomatic relations with China.
The two countries have failed to resolve it despite 24 rounds of negotiations since 1984. Indian troops have blocked a road under construction by China in a part of the territory under dispute. It’s called the Donglang region by China, Bhutan calls it Doklam Plateau and India refers to it as Doka La.
The same plateau extends to the India-Bhutan-China tri-junction at the southern tip of the Chumbi Valley. The border with China is accepted by India along Sikkim, so there is no dispute between the two.
Meanwhile, Beijing said the standoff between Indian and Chinese troops on the border smacked of New Delhi’s hidden agenda of “meddling” in Bhutan’s internal affairs.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said there was no dispute over Donglong, which belonged to China and not to India or Bhutan.
The chicken neck corridor is a narrow stretch of land located in West Bengal that connects the northeastern states to the rest of India with the countries of Nepal and Bangladesh lying on either side. The kingdom of Bhutan lies on the northern side of the corridor and the neck is considered both lifeline and underbelly of the NE.
