Rahul Gandhi’s Comments on Savarkar Reflect Ambedkar’s Harsh Critique; China Has Constructed 22 Settlements within Bhutan’s Territory; Many US Companies in List of Those Who Bribed Indian Officials

A newsletter from The Wire | Founded by MK Venu, Sidharth Bhatia, Pratik Kanjilal, Tanweer Alam, Seema Chishti, Sushant Singh and Siddharth Varadarajan | Contributing writer: Kalrav Joshi, with additional inputs by Anirudh SK

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Snapshot of the day

December 18, 2024

Sidharth Bhatia

China has constructed 22 settlements within Bhutanese territory over the past eight years, with eight strategically located villages emerging near the Doklam plateau since 2020, reports Rezaul H Laskar in The Hindustan Times. Satellite imagery confirms that these villages, some adjacent to Chinese military outposts, fortify Beijing's position in the strategic region, posing a significant threat to India’s Siliguri Corridor. The largest settlement, Jiwu, occupies traditional Bhutanese pastureland in the western sector. India’s Indian Military Training Team (IMTRAT), stationed in west Bhutan since 1963 to protect its territorial integrity, now faces obsolescence as Bhutan inches closer to resolving its border dispute with China. With tech evaluations for the resolution complete, Bhutan seems resigned to Beijing’s dominance, further undermined by India’s failure to evict Chinese forces from eastern Ladakh.

This marks a potential retreat of IMTRAT under Prime Minister Modi’s watch, ending a six-decade legacy initiated by India’s first Prime Minister Jawarhlal Nehru. While Indian military leadership boasts of readiness for a two-front war against China and Pakistan, the ground reality tells a different story. Rhetoric steeped in mythology will not replace strategic foresight or the urgency of modernising India’s defense posture, says journalist Pravin Sawhney.

Umar Khalid has been given seven days’ interim bail in the case pertaining to