We’re alert in Doklam, says Defence Minister

The government is ready for any eventuality in Doklam, said Union Minister for Defence Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday.

The Minister’s statement comes in the midst of India-China efforts to reset their troubled ties, and ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s expected bilateral meeting with President Xi Jinping in June. Mr. Modi will visit China to take part in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit to be held in Qingdao on June 9 and 10.

“We are alert and ready for any unforeseen situation in Doklam. We are constantly working on the modernisation of our forces. We will maintain our territorial integrity,” the Minister said.

Her comments also come within days of Indian ambassador to China Gautam Bambawale saying that the Doklam standoff happened because the Chinese military altered the status quo.

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Change in strategy

“The Chinese military changed the status quo in the Doklam area and therefore India reacted to it,” he said in Hong Kong. “If the Chinese military are going to build a road, then they must tell us that ‘we are going to build a road’,” he said.

The Defence Minister earlier this month told Rajya Sabha that China had undertaken “construction of some infrastructure, including sentry posts, trenches and helipads” close to the face-off point in Doklam. “Post disengagement from the face-off in 2017, troops of both sides have redeployed themselves away from their respective positions at the face-off site. The strength of both sides has been reduced,” she said.

A series of high-level meetings are expected during the summer, ending in the visit of Mr. Modi to the SCO summit in June. Ms. Sitharaman has already announced that she will visit China in late April. Last time a Defence Minister visited China was in April 2016, when Manohar Parrikar held high-level talks in Beijing.

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At the official level, there are several other meetings slated in the coming days. Indian and Chinese experts are to meet later this month to discuss trans-border rivers. In mid-April, the National Development and Reform Commission will hold discussions with the NITI Aayog. In preparation for the SCO summit visit, the SCO Foreign Ministers are to meet in Beijing towards the end of April.

Discussing Mr. Modi’s proposed SCO summit visit, Mr. Bambawale said there would “definitely” be a bilateral meeting between the Prime Minister and President Xi Jinping. In an interview to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, Mr. Bambawale said: “During that [the SCO summit], we will definitely have a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping.”

Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha recently instructed officials to stay away from the events to mark 60 years of the Dalai Lama’s flight to India, as part of Indian efforts to reset the troubled ties with China.