India is maintaining strict surveillance over the Doklam plateau that witnessed a 73-day-long face-off between Indian and Chinese armies last year.
Sources close to the External Affairs and Defence has made it clear that China had not undertaken any construction activity in the area during the past month, violating border issues.
Also read: China trying to outmaneuver India’s position with road construction in Doklam
China’s road and military infrastructure construction in Doklam area near the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction is a concern in the Indian security establishment, with People’s Liberation Army now trying to circumvent Indian troop positions with a road axis in the region.
Sources said PLA troops are ‘trying to work around or outflank’ the Indian Doka La military outpost, which is located on the ridge that dominates Doklam.
They plan to do this by constructing a new 1.3-km long road and ‘communication trenches’ around 4-km away from the spot.
This alternative axis could allow them access to Jampheri Ridge in south Doklam, as the PLA had earlier wanted before the 73-day troop stand-off last year.
However, sources close to New Delhi have denied any such report.
Troops from both the Indian and the Chinese side were locked in a 73-day long standoff at the disputed territory of Doklam from June 16 to August 28 last year. The standoff began after Indian troops stopped the construction of a road in the disputed region by the Chinese Army.