The latest warning came from PLA Navy Senior Captain Zhang Ye, who is a research fellow of the PLA Naval Research Institute and a prominent strategist.
Even as National Security Adviser Ajit Doval holds key talks with the Chinese leadership, a prominent strategist of a People’s Liberation Army think-tank has warned that India’s “trespass” into the Doklam region would set the precedent for “a third party’s” intervention in Jammu & Kashmir.
While Chinese State media have made similar arguments in recent weeks amid the on-going stand-off, the latest warning came from PLA Navy Senior Captain Zhang Ye, who is a research fellow of the PLA Naval Research Institute and a prominent strategist.
It coincided with the second day of Doval’s visit, when he will attend on Friday morning a BRICS NSA’s meet and later meet with President Xi Jinping. Doval and his counterpart Yang Jiechi held talks on Thursday.
“As a third party of the Sino-Bhutan border dispute, does the Indian military have the right to trespass across the Sino-Indian established border to stop China’s road construction? If yes, it would be very dangerous, for under India’s logic, if Pakistan requests, a third country’s army can enter the area disputed by India and Pakistan, including India-controlled Kashmir,” he said, using the term China uses to refer to Jammu and Kashmir, in a commentary in the Global Times.
Zhang pointed out that in Bhutan’s statement “there was no mention of asking for help from or consulting with the Indian government”. “According to diplomatic sources, the Bhutan government even didn’t know about India’s move to cross the border in advance,” he added.
India Stalling Talks, Says ZHANG
He also suggested that the 24 rounds of border talks between China and Bhutan had “reached consensus” although the final delimitation wasn’t complete, and he suggested that India was stalling the talks. “If the border dispute is settled, China and Bhutan will establish a normal diplomatic relationship, which will strengthen Sino-Bhutan ties and weaken India’s influence over Bhutan. Many Bhutanese people complain that it is India’s interference that impedes the Sino-Bhutan border negotiation,” he said.
“Moreover, the ongoing border row in Doklam has put India in a better position to increase its military presence in Bhutan, which will further strengthen India’s control over Bhutan. Therefore India sent its troops into the Doklam area in the name of helping Bhutan, but in fact, India is making use of Bhutan to increase its strategic advantage over China.”
Zhang concluded that the stand-off was “great power competition in the disguise of border dispute”. “As long as India keeps its military force there,” he added, “it will fall deeper into the strategic dilemma created by itself, so withdrawing its troops out of the Doklam area is the only right approach to solving the crisis for India.”
