In a war over Doklam, why China will likely be the eventual loser

An idecisive war will puncture China's unbending and all-accomplishing image so assiduously built up

LATEST NEWS  :  On June 16, it became public information that Indian troops had entered the Doklam region near the Chumbi Valley tri-junction area wedged between Bhutan, India and Tibet/China, and stopped a Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) construction crew from completing the hard-surfacing of an earlier dirt track. The Doklam plateau is one of the disputed territories between Bhutan and China. It is closely opposite Sikkim and slightly north of the narrow Siliguri corridor connecting the mainland territory of India to its seven northeastern states and region.

Bhutan and China do not have formal diplomatic relations. Despite that, the two states have held a number of meetings to resolve their boundary differences inclusive of the Doklam area, without any resolution so far. Separately, framework agreements between India and China lay down that no unilateral changes to the territorial status quo in their disputed boundary areas will be undertaken by any party – in this instance, inclusive of Bhutan – pending a final, mutually-acceptable delineation. Independently, there is a longstanding agreement between Bhutan and India allocating to and allowing India to provide security to Bhutan.

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