The Army’s 33 Corps, responsible for the security of the Sikkim border, has advanced its annual exercises to end August. However, Army sources denied reports of a border village being evacuated.
The Indian Army was tight-lipped about the move, even as some reports spoke of China beefing up its military presence in the vicinity of the standoff site in Doklam in recent days.
According to sources, Sukna headquartered 33 Corps has already issued an operational alert for troop movement to hold its annual exercises before the end of August. Troop movement towards their areas of possible action during a conflict is already under way. The exercise would last two weeks.
Traditionally, the annual exercises are held in September, sources said, before snow sets in. During the exercise period, troops will be exercising in their likely areas of operation during a conflict.
China’s warning
The development comes even as the Chinese side continues to up its rhetoric. State-run China Daily on Wednesday warned: “The countdown to a clash between the two forces has begun, and the clock is ticking away the time to what seems to be an inevitable conclusion.”
Meanwhile, reports had emerged from the border that residents of Nathang village, 35 km from Doklam, where the two sides are on a military standoff, have been asked to vacate. Rejecting the reports, defence sources said that “neither any village has been evacuated nor proposed by the Indian Army to be evacuated in Sikkim.”
