China is constructing villages in disputed Bhutan territory, which is less than 30 km from the trijunction Doklam plateau, reported NDTV.
According to NDTV, the revelation came after high-resolution satellite imagery surfaced with the security establishments. These lie less than 30 km from the Doklam plateau where India and China had a tense stand-off in 2017 when Indian soldiers physically blocked Chinese road construction activity.
It remains unclear, at this stage, where these settlements are meant to station military forces or for civilian purposes, reported NDTV.
Doklam plateau was in limelight in 2017 when the Indian Army and the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) were locked in the bitter standoff for over 70 days. The Chinese had to finally retreat from the area after the Indian troops contested the plateau.
Dhoklam is an area of 100 sq km comprising a plateau and a valley at the trijunction between India, China and Bhutan. The plateau is circled by the Chumbi Valley of Tibet, Bhutan's Ha Valley and India's Sikkim.
In 2017, China was carrying out infrastructural development work at Doklam, to which India had objected. China then claimed that there was a boundary dispute between Bhutan and China and to which India had no claims.
However, India refuted and stood its ground, matching the deployment of the Chinese troops for 73 days.
The standoff was triggered by China saying that it was constructing a road within its territory. This was disputed by India, which said that the site of the Chinese road construction was Bhutanese territory.
(With inputs from IANS)
