New Delhi Amid a border standoff with China, the Indian Army on Thursday has reportedly ordered the evacuation of a village close to the Doklam India-Bhutan-China tri-junction.
Nearly 100 residents of Nathang village have been asked to vacate their houses immediately by Indian Army, News 18 reported.
The Nathang village is located 35 km away from Doklam in Sikkim sector. The move could be a precautionary measure to avoid civilian casualties in case of a skirmish.
While the Indian Army didnt issue any official statement, residents of the Nathang village confirmed witnessing heavy troop movement in the area of late, the report said.
However, the Indian Army has called the troop movement in the area a regular maintenance move. This came a day after China said only 53 Indian soldiers remained in Doklam and asked India to pull them back.
This development comes soon after the Indian Express reported about the movement of thousands of soldiers of the 33 Corps of the Indian Army looking after Sikkims border with China. According to the report, Army has advanced its schedule for 33 Corps Operational Alert, a two-week event in which all Army units move to familiarise themselves with their likely area of operation.
The report also states that Chinas Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) has increased presence of troops in the vicinity of the stand-off site. PLA has reportedly pitched around 80 tents at a distance of around one kilometre from the site.
China has been insisting that India withdraws its troops from Doklam where both sides have been locked in a nearly two-month stand-off. On the other hand, the New Delhi is for a simultaneous withdrawal from Doklam, which, it says, belongs to its other neighbour Bhutan. The countdown to a military conflict between India and China has begun and New Delhi should come to senses and withdraw troops from Doklam before its too late, warned an editorial in the state-run China Daily on Wednesday.
While the Chinese media has in the last few weeks been beating war drums quite incessantly, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said India did learn lessons from the 1962 war and asserted that Indian armed forces can now meet any challenge. There has been no let up in tensions between India and China with their militaries engaged in a standoff at Doklam in Sikkim sector for nearly two months now. The crisis began in mid-June when the Indian Army prevented Chinese troops from building a road in Doklam.
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