Doklam: One Year Later We Aren't Fully Prepared

A year after the Doklam crisis, India and China continue to push for tactical upper hand in the strategic trijunction

- Pradip R. Sagar

On August last year, in a surprise move, China and India agreed to pull their forces back from the Doklam trijunction of India, Bhutan and China, after a standoff that lasted 73 days. A year later, India and China have put their defence preparedness on the fast track, and are preparing to be in a much better position tactically, in case of another confrontation.

In a big shift after Doklam, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said it was time to shift the Army’s focus to its northern border to handle Chinese “assertiveness”. India has enhanced its deployment of Su-30 MKI fighters, which can fire the supersonic BrahMos missiles, at the Bagdogra and Hasimara airbases.

China has deployed in the region its early-warning and command aircraft, HQ-9 surface-to-air missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles. It has upgraded facilities at the airbases in Lhasa and Shigatse and will open three more airbases in Tibet by the end of next year.