Resolute on the ground and Reasonable in diplomacy

Resolute on the Ground and Reasonable in Diplomacy should be the FOREIGN POLICY for China


 Month after Doklam withdrawal, more Chinese troops on the plateau than ever before

The Indian team was given instructions by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his two principal aides - NSA Doval and foreign secretary S. Jaishankar - on the redlines: India would remain 'resolute on the ground and reasonable in diplomacy'.

In other words, India was willing to discuss mutual disengagement or withdrawal but it would not step back just because the Chinese were making threatening noises.
"Doklam was never about the PLA leaving," says an Indian army official. "It was about them staying." And while the world's attention was focused on Doklam, the PLA quietly moved deeper into Bhutanese territory.

 "De-escalation at Doklam is one phase," says Jayadeva Ranade, ex-additional secretary (R&AW) and a China analyst. "The Chinese are smarting and will seek to pay us back and restore the party's image within China."


Halting road construction was not enough, the Indian army officer told his PLA counterpart. Status quo would be restored only after the PLA moved back to where they were before June 16 - behind the Merug La-Sinche La ridge line at least 1.5 km away. 
The fresh Chinese incursions and bunker construction was recently raised 'at the highest levels' of the Bhutanese government, one government source said, but it did not elicit any response. Bhutan, on its part, is being cautious because it does not want to risk upsetting its larger neighbour to the north (the Bhutanese embassy did not respond to a questionnaire requesting comment). 

Analysts are not surprised at what one army official terms as the PLA's 'Op Bully'. "I would expect specific intrusions by the PLA to keep Bhutan under pressure," says Ranade. "Their aim would be to get Thimphu to agree to full diplomatic relations and inhibit them from supporting India in a future situation." 


WHY INDIA WANTS CHINA OUT
India, Bhutan say the trijunction between India, China and Bhutan lies at Batang la. China says it's further south at gyemochen. China's presence on the plateau strengthens its claim.Doklam gives the pla the advantage of outflanking the Indian army's defences in Sikkim where india occupies higher ground and a terrain advantage.China's access to the Jampheri ridge will give it a launchpad for an offensive on the narrow Siliguri corridor linking the entire northeast to the Indian mainland.


5 THINGS INDIA HAS TO DO


Some ways of plugging the army's vulnerabilities on the ground post-Doklam
  1. Transit through Bangladesh: Agreements for road, rail and sea access to India's northeast through Bangladesh inked in 2015 could offset the strategic vulnerability of the Siliguri corridor.
  2. Speed up the completion of border roads: Only 16 of the 73 India-China border roads have been completed. The deadline of 2022 needs to be brought forward.
  3. Longer sensory reach for the army and IAF in the northeast: The army and air force surveillance capabilities are severely limited and mutually exclusive of each other. They also lack all-weather, continuous surveillance. Needs to be integrated for real-time data flow.
  4. Longer strike reach for forces in the Northeast: No high value targets near the borders for the army or air force on the Tibetan plateau whereas nearly all of north India within range of IRBMs on the plateau.
  5. Military exercises with friendly countries on China's periphery: Will allow armed forces to work on China's vulnerabilities.















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