India-China stand-off: No reduction in Indian troop strength at the face-off

Indian Army has not reduced its troop strength at Doklam area near India-Bhutan-China tri-junction where troops from India and China are locked in a face-off for six weeks.
 
Contrary to what Beijing claimed in a new 15-page statement, defence ministry sources said Indian troop strength remained same with nearly 350-400 soldiers taking guard against the People's Liberation Army soldiers in the Himalayan heights.
 
In its statement China claimed at one point of time, there were “as many 400 Indian troops, over 180 meters into the Chinese territory, but by the end of July there were over 40 Indian soldiers and one bulldozer illegally staying in the Chinese territory.”
 
The Indian military establishment, however, categorically denied any reduction in troop strength. A logistic chain has now also been put in place to support the soldiers located at an altitude of more than 14,000 ft. The face-off area falls inside Bhutan.
 
China claimed on June 18, over 270 Indian border troops, carrying weapons and driving two bulldozers, crossed the boundary in the Sikkim Sector at the Duo Ka La (Doka La) pass and advanced more than 100 meters into the Chinese territory to obstruct the road building of the Chinese side, causing tension in the area.
 
It further claimed Indian troops advanced 180 metres inside “Chinese territory”.
 
While the Ministry of External Affairs didn't react to the Chinese statement on Wednesday, the foreign office last week clarified that Indian troops went inside Bhutan to stop the Chinese road-building party in coordination with Bhutan government only after an attempt by Bhutan troops to dissuade the PLA troops did not bear fruits.
 
The stand off stemmed from two different perceptions on the location of the tri-junction.
 
India and Bhutan perceive the Indi-Bhutan-China tri-junction at a point near Batang la. This perception is based on the watershed principle on which the boundary between India and China has been orchestrated. But China perceives the tri-junction to lie further south at Gyemochen in accordance with an 1890 agreement between Great Britain and China.
 
In between, lies an area of 89 sq km, which is currently the bone of contention.
 
Sources said Beijing's plan to extend a Class-5 operational road up to Gyamochen or Jampheri ridge in Bhutan on which Gyamochen lies triggered the face-off.
 
Access to Jampheri ridge would bring China very close to Jaldhaka near the Bhutan border from where it can wield its influence on the narrowest portion of the Siliguri corridor that connects the North East to the mainland India.
 
Around 2003, 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 Doklam. The track ends in a wider area to allow vehicles to turn and go back to Asan, which is connected by a black-top road to Yatung, the biggest town in Chumbi valley.
 
Now PLA wanted to cross the Torsa Nala and extend the road to Gyamochen, sources said. Jampheri Ridge is a natural boundary between China and Bhutan, which India needs to protect at all costs because of its strategic significance.