Parliamentary panel to review situation in border areas of Sikkim, Arunachal post Doklam standoff

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, will visit border areas in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh next month to take stock of the situation following the Doklam crisis with China, sources said. Congress president Rahul Gandhi is also a member of the committee and is likely to travel/visit, said two leaders familiar with the developments.

The panel has been looking into various aspects of the India-China military standoff at Doklam and has been briefed several times on the issue by the former and current foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale.

“The panel will visit the border areas in two states Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh to see the ground realities and take stock of the situation on border in these two states,” a source said.

The idea is to get a firsthand experience of the situation on the India-China border in the two states and to see, or if possible visit, areas where incursions have happened, another source said.

The panel, which may also use a chopper to get an aerial view, could also interact with top security and defense officials deployed there, sources said.

Troops of India and China were locked in a 73-day standoff in Doklam in the Sikkim sector from June 16 last year after the Indian side stopped the building of a road in the disputed tri-junction by the Chinese Army.