Author: Pramod Giri
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: December 28, 2005
URL: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1583871,000500020006.htm?headline=Alarm~over~Chinese~incursion
The Chinese are in Bhutan - its soldiers are
building roads and bridges deep inside the country and setting off alarms
in both Thimphu and Delhi. Over 200 Chinese soldiers crossed into Bhutan in
mid-November and since then, the relations between the two countries have
been on the edge.
Bhutan, which has a 470-km unfenced border
with China, considers the unasked-for presence of the Red Army in its territory
as a violation of the 1998 Sino-Bhutanese border treaty of peace and tranquillity.
Rattled by the developments, the tiny kingdom, which shares a special relationship
and a 605-km border with India, has also informed the Indian home ministry.
The matter also came up before Bhutan's National
Assembly and foreign minister Khandu Wangchuk promised the House that the
matter would soon be taken up with the Chinese authorities.
On November 13, the Chinese soldiers entered
the country's northern districts, including Paro, and marched 20 km inland,
claiming that they had been forced by melting glaciers and heavy snowfall
in Tibet to breach the border. But they also went on to infiltrate remote
places like Haa, Boomtang and Wangdi Phudrang, which have no human habitation.
The Chinese have built pucca bridges in Paro and Haa districts, prompting
concern among the people's representatives from Paro, Haa, Laya, Lunana, Zhemgang
and Thimphu.
When secretary of international boundaries
Dasho Pema Wangchuk took up the issue with the Chinese delegation led by deputy
director-general of the Asian department in the China's ministry of foreign
affairs, China just brushed off the apprehensions.
"They told the Bhutanese that they were
over-reacting and that the roads were being built as part of the economic
development programmes for western China," an Indian intelligence officer
said. "India and Bhutan enjoy a special relationship, and the current
developments have come as a matter of serious concern for India," the
official added.
That the concern is not confined to government
circles in Thimphu and Delhi was clear from a recent article in Bhutanese
newspaper Kuensel, which said, "There are chances that the Chinese might
build more roads further into our territory and gradually claim the land as
theirs since they have their roads on our territory."
But why the incursion? Sources said China
had been pressing Bhutan to allow it to open its embassy in Thimphu, and the
cross-border forays could be a ploy to arm-twist Bhutan into agreeing to it.
