Diplomatic channels engaged in defusing Doklam standoff: S Jaishankar

NEW DELHI: Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar told a parliamentary standing committee on Tuesday that diplomatic channels were engaged in defusing the stand-off with China at Dhoklam tri-junction even as he admitted that Chinese response on the issue was unusually aggressive, according to some members in the panel. Responding to queries of some members of the Shashi Tharoor-led panel, Jaishankar is learnt to have reassured them the stand-off was not as volatile as projected by some quarters. 

China’s military standoff is aimed at testing India’s special relationship with Bhutan. China is also testing India’s political will to sustain military element, a Sino-Bhutan expert said. Beijing has implicitly conveyed it could generate disturbances for New Delhi in Sikkim, Bhutan and the Kashmir Valley, not only through the military build-up but also live drills in Tibetan region. 

Beijing’s belligerence have come under criticism from a top European leader. Ryszard Czarnecki, VP, European Parliament, in an article pulled up Beijing up for its actions along Sikkim: “After Xi Jinping’s succession as the country’s president, one has been witnessing change in China’s foreign policy and infringement of internationally accepted norms. On June 16, China’s unilateral move to build a motorable road from Dokala in Doklam area towards the Bhutan Army camp in Zornpelri is an illustration of this policy.