Rahul Gandhi to PM Modi: Finished chest thumping? Now, explain how China widened road in Doklam

NEW DELHI: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi kept up the pressure on PM Narendra Modi, by asking him on Friday to explain how China managed to widen its existing motorable road in Doklam despite the heavy Indian Army presence there.


Rahul tweeted:



This new Chinese road construction comes a time when both India and China are maintaining stepped-up military force-levels near the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction despite the rival troops having disengaged from the actual face-off site at Doklam on August 28.

In July, Indian troops stopped China's People's Liberation Army from extending the existing motorable road in the Bhutanese territory of Doklam.

India has not yet objected to China's fresh road-construction activity, which is around 10-km from the earlier troops face-off site, because it is not being done towards the militarily-sensitive Jampheri Ridge area like before.

"The PLA is now using the construction material and bulldozers it had brought to the face-off site at Doklam to improve the road it built in the region some years ago," said a source to TOI.

"China is reinforcing its claim on the Doklam territory (India backs Bhutan's claim on it) by upgrading the road around 10-km north and east of the earlier face-off site. The PLA has been controlling the road for some years and regularly sends patrols to the area," the source added.