The new satellite images, sourced from Maxar, indicate that a second village in the Amo Chu river valley is now virtually complete, says a news report.
On Tuesday, new satellite images showed the development of a Chinese town on the Bhutanese side of the Doklam plateau, an area that is significant for India’s strategic interests.
The Doklam tri-junction became the scene of a 73-day standoff between the Indian and Chinese forces when China attempted to build a road across territory that Bhutan claimed was its own.
The NDTV reported on the photographs obtained by MAXAR, a business that specialises in space technology and intelligence, and claimed that the community is completely populated, with automobiles parked at almost every home’s doorstep.
It claimed that a nicely demarcated all-weather road is located next to the village and is a part of China’s “massive land grab” in Bhutan.
China may be able to access a key crest on the Doklam plateau thanks to the road. The Army did not respond right away to the fresh pictures.
According to recent satellite pictures obtained from Maxar, a second settlement in the Amo Chu river valley is now practically finished, and China has accelerated the building of a third village or habitation further south, according to a report from NDTV.
The administration had previously declared that it closely monitors all border-related activity.
Along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, where the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Indian Army have been engaged in a standoff for more than two years, China has been stepping up border infrastructure.
Bhutan and China agreed on a “three-step plan” in October of last year to quicken talks to settle their lingering boundary issue.
In an effort to settle the border dispute, Bhutan and China have held over 24 rounds of boundary talks along their more than 400 km-long shared border.
Additionally, there were ten rounds of talks between the two nations at the “Expert Group” level.
From the standpoint of India’s security interests, the Doklam tri-junction is significant.
Even worries of a conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbors were raised as a result of the India-China standoff on the Doklam plateau in 2017. India backed Bhutan’s claim that the territory belonged to it.
The road’s building at the Doklam tri-junction had been fiercely opposed by India since it would have harmed the country’s overall security interests.
After several rounds of negotiations, the conflict between China and India was resolved.
