Tharoor on Doklam: Are There Any Undertakings From the Chinese?

Today's MEA statement was unexpected and stunning:

“In recent weeks, India and China have maintained diplomatic communication in respect of the incident at Doklam. During these communications, we were able to express our views and convey our concerns and interests.
“On this basis, expeditious disengagement of border personnel at the face-off site at Doklam has been agreed to and is on-going.”

Some were quick to hail this as a diplomatic victory for India. Instant analysis had experts claiming that China had realised they had too many economic interests at stake in India to persist with an ugly diplomatic and military standoff that was costing it lucrative contracts. (I found this risible myself, but that's what many Indians think.)

Also Read: Doklam Standoff Live | Indian Troops Have Already Withdrawn: China

Unanswered Questions

The announcement, however, begged two questions for which answers from the MEA were not forthcoming: would the disengagement be simultaneous or sequential? Are there any undertakings from the Chinese that they will not rebuild the road next month?

The Chinese Foreign Ministry's statement was not reassuring in this regard. Confirming “India's pullback from Donglang,” as they put it, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying averred somewhat ominously that “China will continue fulfilling its territorial rights and interests and safeguarding its territorial sovereignty”.

What exactly does that mean? Does China reserve the right to continue building its road?

Who Blinked First?

Today's might just be a welcome development in which both sides have diplomatically agreed that a “road to nowhere” was not worth destroying an important relationship over. Or it might be a case in which one country blinked – and that could only have been us.

Which is it? As an egregious anchor might say, the nation needs to know.

Also Read: How Can India & China Move On From Doklam? Easy – Soft Power

(Former UN under-secretary-general, Shashi Tharoor is a Congress MP and an author. He can be reached @ShashiTharoor.)