 "Doklam standoff: India achieved its primary goal, says Dhruva Jaishankar")
Commenting on the 'disengagement' understanding between India and China over the 71-day military stand-off at Doklam, Dhruva Jaishankar, an analyst at Brookings India, on Tuesday asserted that India has achieved its primary goal by compelling China to withdraw from the road project.
Speaking to ANI here, Jaishankar said, "This was the bottom line; the road building equipment that China was using has been moved back. I think we will seek more details about it in the near future. But this seems to have been verified by the government as well. So, that ultimately was India's primary objective and that seems to have been met."
"It is obvious that the Chinese had highlighted the issues they wanted to highlight for their audiences. From the India's statement, it was deliberately vague but the big news is this that both have resolved the matter peacefully and diplomatically," he added.
Averring that this is not the first time that China has gone back on an agreement, the Brookings India' analyst stated that now India has to be a bit more watchful about Chinese intentions and in judging other countries as well.
"This is not the first time that China has gone back on an agreement. It did so with the Philippines years ago. Even in doing this act in Doklam, it has violated return agreements with India and with Bhutan. I think now there will be a great deal of watchfulness about the Chinese intentions both in this sector and across the border, including in another aspects of China and Indian relationship," he mentioned.
Speaking about the Bhutan Government, Jaishankar said, "They showed a lot of courage, restraint and a great deal of maturity under a lot of stress to refrain from making any statements."
In a coordinated announcement on Monday, the Indian and Chinese foreign ministries both announced that troops have started disengaging at the Doklam bowl, where they have been in a stand-off since June 16, when the Indian Army moved hundreds of soldiers and two bulldozers into the disputed area to block road construction by China.
On Monday, New Delhi stated that, after weeks of diplomatic negotiations between the two countries, "expeditious disengagement of border personnel at the face-off site at Doklam has been agreed to and is on-going."
Meanwhile, Beijing announced that "on the afternoon of August 28, the Indian side has pulled back all the trespassing personnel and equipment to the Indian side of the boundary and the Chinese personnel on the ground has (sic) verified this.
