Doklam 2.0? China flexing muscles again, satellite images show Dragon's expansion

Both India and China, on 28 August 2017, announced that they had withdrawn all their troops from the face-off site in Doklam.

Image: Twitter

New Delhi: Barely four months after the Doklam standoff was solved between India and China, the ghost has come to haunt India once again. The activities of China has increased considerably in the Doklam region, claimed the Congress on Thursday and demanded clarifications from Prime Minister Narendra Modi about what his government is doing in this direction and for the safety of the country. Congress has supported its claims using satellite images. Image: Twitter Image: Twitter "Two-story building is built in the Doklam region," said Congress' Randeep Surjewala in a press conference and added that bunker is also built. Image: Twitter In 2017, China-India entered standoff over the construction of a road in Doklam. On 16 June 2017 Chinese troops with construction vehicles and road-building equipment began extending an existing road southward in Doklam, a territory which is claimed by both China as well as India's ally Bhutan. Around 270 Indian troops, on 18 June 2017, with weapons and two bulldozers, entered Doklam to stop the Chinese troops from constructing the road. Both India and China, on 28 August 2017, announced that they had withdrawn all their troops from the face-off site in Doklam. If these latest reports and hence claims of the opposition party are true, then the country really need to worry. Dragon (China) is a neighbour which can't be trusted by Bengal Tiger (India). In 1962, India had already locked horns with China during the Sino-Indian War. The war ended when China declared a ceasefire on 20 November 1962 and simultaneously announced its withdrawal to its claimed 'line of actual control'. It appears that India's growing influence around the world has made China uncomfortable. As India's relations with the United States and other countries like Israel are getting warmer, Dragon's attitude towards India is getting colder. China looks for the chances to trespass the Line of Actual Control (LAC)-border between India and China. Border between the two traverses 4,057 km along the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. China has been using its provocation tactics. However, India is not deterred by these. General Bipin Rawat last recently said India needed to shift its military focus from its western border with Pakistan to its northern border with China. Rawat also said that if China was strong, India was not weak either, reported IANS. India today successfully test-fired its nuclear capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile Agni-5 (the most advanced missile in the Agni series) with a strike range of over 5000 kms. The test-flight of the missile has further expanded indigenous missile capabilities and deterrence strength of the country. The Indian Air Force has already landed its giant C-17 Globemaster aircraft very close to the border with China.