Tibet, Nepal intrigues back in focus after long

NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 23

The Great Game on the Roof of the World is beginning to get intriguing as existing players have begun jettisoning over half a century of status quo. World attention is currently focused on the China-India face off in eastern Ladakh, but intrigues relating to Tibet and the surrounding territories controlled by India, Nepal and Bhutan are making a comeback.

China has ingressed into the Bhutanese territory by building a road in an area that India considers a security risk to the Chicken’s Neck corridor connecting the mainland to the North East, said sources here. So far, there was reasoned speculation about the Chinese building a village as well as a road towards Jampheri Ridge.

Reports of a similar nature have come from Nepal but have been denied as well. However, China is now attempting to put in place an all-weather link to Nepal that will serve as a more reliable avenue for commerce.

In India, Arunachal CM Pema Khandu has repeatedly said the state does not share a direct border with China but with Tibet. In June, days after the Galwan clash, Khandu had for the first time referred to the LAC as the India-Tibet border. — TNS