New Delhi: Senior army officials from India and China met in Nathu La on Friday amid a troop and armament build-up along the 3,488-km border between the two countries.
While no breakthrough is expected in the seven-week-long standoff at Doklam, the meeting hints at the fact that communication lines between the two armies are open at a local level.
Top sources told CNN-News18 that the entire border with China — along Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand — is being closely monitored.
The Sukhna-based 33 Corps has advanced its annual war exercise operation alert by six weeks to ensure that its troops are acclimatised in case a skirmish breaks out. The movement is a comprehensive one that includes both men and required armament.
The 4 Corps based in Tawang and 3 Corps based in Dimapur have been put on alert as well. All the three Corps together man the area from the Siliguri Corridor to the end of Arunachal Pradesh.
"So far, the only war that is being fought is through Global Times. There is so much rhetoric from the Chinese side... so it is best if we show some caution. We are, after all, nuclear nations," said a senior source in the government.
India continues to be in a 'no war, no peace’ mode at the Line of Actual Control — which means the caution levels are high, but not high enough to raise hackles on the other side.
The army has denied reports of any village being evacuated in the Doklam plateau. But villagers in Nathang, around 35 km from the India-Bhutan-China tri-junction, told CNN-News18 that they have been advised to move out.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to China for the BRICS Summit on September 3. Any major developments in the border situation is likely only after that. For the moment, the Indian Army is preparing for the long haul.
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