China builds village inside Bhutan, 9 km away from Doklam stand-off site

Representational picture

China has reportedly established a village inside Bhutan’s territory, close to Doklam, where Indian and Chinese troops had engaged in a long-drawn standoff in the year 2017.

Images shared on November 19 by a senior journalist who works for the Chinese state media revealed that the village has been set up by China 2 kilometres inside Bhutan.

The tweets posted by Shen Shiwei, a senior producer at China’s CGTN News, have been deleted, but an NDTV report claims that the tweets served a “clear evidence of Chinese landgrab within Bhutanese territory”. As per the images shared by the CGTN journalist, the village established by the Chinese is located at a distance of 9 kilometres from the Doklam trijunction.

The report also claims that China has “baselessly” staked claims over nearly 12 percent of the Bhutanese territory.

The establishment of the Chinese village of Pangda is being viewed as an attempt of the neighbouring country to cut into Bhutanese and Indian territory gradually. The development is of particular concern to India as it is responsible for safeguarding the territorial integrity of Bhutan.

Both India and China are currently holding talks to disengage troops in Ladakh where the troops had engaged in a violent faceoff earlier in the year.