India, China resolve to end Sikkim stand-off

As India and China work to resolve the Sikkim standoff, it has emerged that Beijing’s plan to extend a Class-5 operational road up to Gyamochen or Jampheri Ridge in Bhutan, on which Gyamochen lies, is the root cause of the latest conflict.

Access to the strategically significant ridge would bring China very close to Jaldhaka near the Bhutan border from where it can wield influence on the narrowest portion of the Siliguri corridor that connects the Northeast to the rest of India.

Almost 14 years ago, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) laid a Class-5 operational track – a dirt track capable of jeep movement – connecting Asan, 20 km away, to a point short of Torsa Nala in the Dolam (Doklam) plateau.

The track ends in a wider area to allow vehicles to return to Asan, which is connected by a black-top road to Yatung, the biggest town in Chumbi Valley.

Now, PLA wants to cross the Torsa Nala and extend the road to Gyamochen on the Jampheri Ridge, a source told DH.

Natural boundary

The ridge acts as a natural boundary between China and Bhutan, which India has to protect at all costs because of its strategic significance.

The road-building exercise was a tactical move by the PLA, the source said.

If the Chinese succeed in entering Bhutan with large forces through Dolam Plateau and Jampheri, there is little anyone can do to prevent them from trying to control Jaldhaka and Bindu Barrage as well as the Siliguri corridor. This is an area looked after by the Indian Army’s 17 Division, based in Gangtok.

The PLA regularly sends patrol teams up to Torsa Nala, but generally does not cross it. There is a solitary Bhutanese Army post at the Jampheri Ridge called Chela Post.

Every month, there is a link between the Indian and Bhutanese Army patrols at the ridge.