Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar met Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and other senior officials from Thimpu on Tuesday amid reports that the Chinese army was again deploying troops near Doklam in Sikkim, The Economic Times reported.
This is their first official meeting after the standoff between India and China over transgressions in the Doklam plateau, a portion of territory near the tri-junction border that is claimed by both Bhutan and China.
Beijing and New Delhi had both maintained that troops from the other nation had transgressed into their territory in the region. Bilateral ties were strained after the Indian Army stopped China from constructing a road in Doklam. New Delhi had said it will not allow China to construct a motorable road up to the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction through the Doklam plateau.
Chinese and Indian troops have stepped-up forces deployed near the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction weeks after the standoff, The Times of India had quoted unidentified officials as saying on October 1. The reports about China’s People’s Liberation Army deploying more troops near the plateau come just days ahead of the Chinese Community Party Congress, which is expected to re-elect President Xi Jinping for another term.
India had announced the disengagement of its troops from Dolkam on August 29 after a prolonged, 74-day standoff. Prime Minister Modi had met President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the ninth Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa group summit on September 5. The two leaders agreed that both countries should make more effort to strengthen cooperation and ensure that Doklam-like incidents do not recur.
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