Even as the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced -- “expeditious disengagement of border personnel at the face-off site in Doklam has been agreed-to and is ongoing” -- to claim easing of three-month-long tension at the India-China border, it left space for ambiguity.
Filling that space, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson reportedly said India has pulled back its border personnel and equipment from Doklam, implying a unilateral pull back by Indian side. However, BJP leaders were quick to claim a “huge diplomatic victory” of Narendra Modi government saying it was China that had blinked.
Though the Opposition led by the Congress demanded that the government clarify the agreement reached with China, and whether it was a “mutually agreed upon to withdraw troops” and also whether China had assured it will stop construction of the road close to the disputed border. None of the BJP spokespersons agreed to officially make a comment, saying that the MEA had already issued the statement.
However, BJP leaders insisted that the Indian stock had gone up in the international community. “Coming on the eve of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to China, the agreement to disengage in Doklam is a big victory for India,” said a senior BJP leader. Modi is expected to attent the BRICS summit to be held in Xiamen between September 3 and 5. He had earlier met Chinese premier Xi Jinping in an informal BRICS discussion on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg even as the standoff was going on.
