If Modi was careful, Doklam stand-off could have been avoided

London, Aug 25: Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the Doklam standoff with China was not an "isolated issue" but part of a "sequence of events" and if Prime Minister Narendra Modi was carefully watching the process, India could have stopped it.

Addressing the International Institute of Strategic Studies here, Gandhi said that "Prime Minister is episodic. He views Doklam as an event".

"Doklam is not an isolated issue. It was a part of a sequence of events, it was a process.
"If he (PM Modi) was carefully watching the process, he could've stopped it," Gandhi said at the London-based think-tank.

He claimed that the "truth is the Chinese are still in Doklam today".

Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh told Rajya Sabha last month that there have been no new developments at the site of the face-off with China in Doklam and its vicinity, and status quo prevails in the area.

"Since the disengagement of Indian and Chinese border personnel in the Doklam area on August 28, 2017, there have been no new developments at the face-off site and its vicinity. The status quo prevails in this area," Singh had said.

Tensions between India and China reached their peak during a 73-day standoff in Doklam near Bhutan over Beijing's construction of a road in the area.

The standoff ended after both sides agreed to disengage, and there have been no confirmed or official reports of China resuming any activities since then.