Doklam thaw vindicates Rajnath Singh, his assessment of early end to the standoff

NEW DELHI: When Union home minister Rajnath Singh hinted a week ago that the Doklam standoff would be resolved soon, the Chinese snubbed him.

Now, the resolution of the stand-off on Monday is being seen as a validation of the assessment of the home minister based on the feedback he got about the negotiations between India and China being at a decisive stage.

“His faith in an early end to Indo-China tension along the Doklam trijunction has been vindicated. The home minister’s statement at an ITBP event on August 21 shows that significant progress had been made in bilateral negotiations by then, and that it was a matter of time before the two sides agreed to pull back their respective troops,” said an officer from the office of the home minister on Monday.


Strangely, while Rajnath’s statement would have coincided with the negotiations, China responded to his statement by adopting a more aggressive stance. Its foreign ministry declared that it would not soften its stand on the border issue despite the possibility of continuing friction hampering the Brics summit in China due early next month.

Speaking at a function of the ITBP last week, Rajnath had said, “There is a deadlock going on at Doklam between India and China. I believe there will be a solution soon. I hope China will undertake a positive initiative (to resolve the stand-off)”.