[Music] while everyone's busy with Russia China's invading Bhutan in a slow but calculated way the ccp's interest in Bhutan is nothing new and the dragon of the East is Unapologetic about its activities China's been building roads and military installations on land that's not theirs as you can see from these pictures at the rate at which things are unraveling we might wake up to find China and Bhutan merged that's very bad news for India because Bhutan sits extremely close to the Strategic Indian Land Corridor called chicken neck right here on the map this strip of land
connects Mainland India to its eastern section China realizes that this is a vulnerability for New Delhi and wants to get its troops as close to the area as possible to protect its safety India has once sent troops to Bhutan and is now ready to go to war with China so today let's go over the origins of this border dispute between China and Bhutan the manner of invasion that China's implement ing how India gets dragged into all this and why I think that a war will be on the horizon if this issue remains as is first
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the Russian way and launch an allout fullscale attack or you could do it subtly like China China's adopted a low-key but deadly strategy where they take a stepbystep approach to their invasions we've seen it in action in the South China Sea where their entire policy has revolved around building an artificial Island here and seizing a disputed Reef there until the world wakes up one day with massive ground stolen and because of the covert nature of this they avoid triggering a major conflict with their neighbors or Washington it's this same subtle aggressive foreign policy that we're
now seeing China implementing in Bhutan Beijing has been quietly sending in troops into Bhutan and building roads housing and military installations now with fortifications built on another country's Sovereign soil we have the Diplomatic issue of Border disputes but the truth of the matter is much like all the lands they've taken before this is an invasion into bhan as with all things we need to take a step back and dive into history a little bit to further understand the seeds of this destruction we're now seeing were swn way back in the early 20th century this was
a time in which the exact borders of nations in the Himalayan region weren't clearly defined back then the region was part of various Empires and kingdoms and borders were more fluid eventually when the British took control of India as they did most of the Known World they attempted to outline borders carefully so that they could split up areas amongst themselves even though they succeeded in most of the areas in the mountainous terrains where Bhutan lies they left a lot of areas unmapped and vague in 1949 when the Chinese nation was founded one of of the
priorities was to assert control and dominance over its borders as a new nation they were aggressive with this policy and it's what ultimately led to the annexation of Tibet into China in 1950 this means they inherited the Border issue between Tibet and Bhutan the CCP tried to begin a border clarification process but there were no ties between the two Nations given its passive nature and its size Bhutan had and still has a very limited foreign policy in short they preferred to stay isolated and Border disputes were not something they wanted to get into I'm sure
they would have preferred for things to remain this way but well peace is not always an option when China's your neighbor as expected the matter intensified in the decade that followed as China started to draw official maps showing parts of Bhutan as Chinese territory this was obviously concerning for Bhutan but they didn't have formal diplomatic relations ations with China so negotiations were tricky to say the least over the years talks have been had but they've yielded little to no results with the most recent talk sparking Embers that have not been viewed favorably by Nations like
India don't worry we'll get to that in just a few minutes and you'll understand why India is prepared to go to war over this in fact just so you know it kind of already has but first let's talk about the contested lands that are at the center of all this when you look at this map you'll see that there are two main disputed areas that Bhutan and China are fighting over these two main disputed areas are the Western sector in the form of the dam plateau and the central sector in the form of jakar L
and Pam L valleys let me explain a little more about that starting with the ever so important dolam Plateau this is the most volatile of all the areas that are disputed and it could be the sparking point that leads to an allout war and as you'll soon see located in the western sector this region is of great importance because of its proximity to the Siliguri Corridor this Corridor also named the chicken neck is a geopolitical and geoeconomic Corridor that connects the seven states of Northeast India to the rest of the Indian Republic at its narrowest
section it's about 20 km wide making it an Achilles heel for India if captured by the enemy that would mean that essentially India would be cut off from its other states making it a military and economic crisis unfortunately for India the doam plateau that China claims as theirs directly overlooks their chicken neck meaning that if China were to occupy the place as they're now doing it would be a military and economic disaster for India given how the two Nations aren't exactly the best of friends in fact it's been said that the only reason China's interested
in this area is just so that it can have a stronger strategic position against India that's how you know there's bad blood here imagine claiming territory in another country just to keep your enemy in check that's crazy India however does not take this Potential Threat lightly in fact back in 2017 things got very heated between China and India over doam specifically because of this Corridor the whole incident was named the doam standoff in June 2017 China decided to start building a road in dlam right in the disputed territory Yes you heard that right China basically
started infrastructure projects to solidify its claims in disputed areas and completely violated the sovereignty of Bhutan with very few options they turned to their big brother India seeing China's Road building as a Potential Threat to its own security especially because of how close dolum is to the Siliguri Corridor India decided to step in Indian troops crossed the border into Bhutan and blocked the Chinese engineers and workers from continuing with the construction this led to a standoff with troops from both sides camping out for over 2 months after weeks of intense negotiations both sides agreed to
a mutual disengagement the troops from both India and China pulled back and China stopped its road construction in dolom at least for the time being the situation was de-escalated without any shots being fired which was a huge relief now China may have stepped down in 2017 but it started its Antics again in 2024 as you can see from these satellite images of the panga Village and the draman and chako Villages Chinese construction projects have continued in secret and have now made quite significant strides on another nation's soil the second disputed area is the central sector
which includes areas like the jakar L and Pam lung valleys now before we get into that I quickly wanted to answer a question I recently got asked a lot of you guys want to start a YouTube channel but you're camera shy or just not comfortable putting your face out there in fact I'm one of those people and that's why this channel has no face on it luckily you can still grow on YouTube even without showing your face or giving up your privacy this channel is the living proof of that in fact here are just a
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to convince you than to read a comment left by a previous student this free boot camp is better than a paid course he took so if you're interested in signing up you can sign up now for free by clicking the link in the description or scanning the QR code on screen anyways the second disputed area is the central sector which includes areas around the jakar lung and pamong valleys these areas are less well known compared to the dolum area but they are still significant for both countries due to their resources and strategic location you see
the jarl and paml valleys lie in the north central part of Bhutan close to the Tibetan border this region is sparsely populated because of its rugged terrain which makes it difficult to access despite the remote nature of these valleys they hold strategic importance for both China and Bhutan on one hand for Bhutan these valleys are part of its traditional territory and the country wants to maintain its sovereignty over them on the other for China controlling these areas could be part of a broader strategy to secure its borders and exert influence in the Himalayan region the
Chinese think of it as a base of sorts from where they can push into the rest of the country put in a nutshell when it comes to these areas the main problem is the differing interpretations of where the boundary lies as I mentioned because of a lack of clear demarcations in the past China is using this to deliberately go Inland thus violating its much smaller neighbor despite the ongoing discussions China's built roads buildings and speculated military bases in these areas showing that they're not open to losing them this right here highlights one of bhutan's major
challenges because it's a small country with a population count of under a million and limited Military capability it relies heavily on diplomacy and its relationship with India to manage its border issues with China but sometimes even that isn't enough this bullying action by China was solidified by the fact that in 2020 China raised a new dispute over territory that had never come up in boundary talks earlier in the virtual meeting of the global environment facility China objected to the grant for the sck Tang wildlife sanctuary in eastern bhutan's trashi gang District claiming that the area
was disputed naturally bhan rejected the claim pointing out the area had never featured in 24 previous rounds of boundary talks perhaps it's such things that make people say China has bullying tendencies in Asia in any case the sakang wildlife sanctuary is being contested and just like the other key areas as we'll have to wait and see what becomes of it with all this said let's now take a look at India's role in all this and why there as much a stakeholder as Bhutan in this conflict you see folks India's support for Bhutan in this China
Bhutan border dispute is rooted in a combination of strategic historical and diplomatic factors firstly as you may already know from my explanations earlier India has strategic interests in the doam plateau India does not want China gaining access to the Corridor as that would give them power to cut India off from its Northeastern states that's why they'll give Bhutan as much help as it needs as this is pivotal to their own State security in addition to that because the only thing standing between India and China is that region in Bhutan India views this small nation as
a buffer state if Bhutan were annexed by China like Tibet was then India would face increased security challenges along its northern borders however not all of the reasons are rooted in self-preservation as there are deep ties between India and Bhutan the two Nations have had a long-standing relationship built on mutual respect cooperation and shared cultural and religious ties Bhutan and India signed the Treaty of friendship in 1949 which was updated in 2007 making it even stronger and more important under this treaty India agreed to guide Bhutan in its foreign relations in defense while respecting bhutan's
sovereignty this is a special important given that Bhutan does not like to deal with foreign policies as the nation prefers to be neutral and peaceful this is why India influences and guides bhutan's foreign policy without taking away the smaller nation's autonomy on top of this the two Nations also have strong economic and Military ties there's been free trade and commerce between the territories of India and Bhutan since the signing of the treaty between the government of India and the Royal government of Bhutan in 1949 this economic activity has been so active that since 2014 India's
merchandise trade excluding electricity with Bhutan has almost tripled from $484 million in 2014 to 2015 to over $1.5 billion in 2022 to 2023 these figures count for about 73% of bhutan's overall trade with the trade balance in India's favor so from the looks of it they have both friendship and economic Ties on top of trade balances India's the leading source of investments in Bhutan comprising 50% of the country's total foreign direct investment there are about 30 Indian companies in Bhutan operating in various sectors like banking manufacturing electricity Generation aggr food processing it Pharmaceuticals hospitality and
education basically the ties Run Deep I'm sure you get the picture adding to these economic ties are military ties as India also helps train bhutan's mil military this close partnership means that Bhutan relies on India for support in critical situations including border disputes with China as the 2017 incident proved now with military ties this close and shared concern over China it makes sense that both India and Bhutan would put a unified effort into stopping this common enemy and ensure that their territorial Integrity is respected something that we need to be aware of is that India's
involvement doesn't just revolve around Bhutan let me explain you must already know that India and China are both vying for the top spot in Asia and historically they haven't been the best of friends China especially has been quite ambitious in spreading its influence to the point where India views it as a serious threat by helping Bhutan preserve its territories India is acting as a counterbalance to Chinese influence left unchecked China could swallow up Bhutan thus making itself stronger and sparking a massive shift in the Region's balance of power another major cause for concern for India
is that Bhutan and China have been having conversations about potential diplomatic ties the closer Bhutan grows to China as it fixes these issues the higher the probability that it might draw away from India concerns that this newf found diplomacy may bring strategic implications are a big issue and with everything that we've been discussing you can understand why if China develops economic ties with Bhutan then what whenever everything said and done India values its close relationship with Bhutan and has invested heavily in economic aid military training and infrastructure projects the idea that China will swoop in
now is completely unacceptable to them on the other hand Bhutan is aware of India's concerns and typically balances its relations with China and India carefully Bhutan seeks to maintain good relations with both neighbors while protecting its own sovereignty as long as Bhutan continues this balance act and ensures that agreements with China do not negatively impact India's security India's likely to be supportive or at least not openly opposed of bhutan's Peace efforts with China that's going to be a tough act to accomplish with matters the way they are I have a feeling we won't wait long
to see how successful bhutan's going to be or if Tides reverse and they themselves incur the wrath of India I don't know how familiar you are with this but there's an old Chinese policy named the f fingers of Tibet it considers Tibet to be China's right-hand Palm with five fingers on its periphery namely LD do Nepal sakim Bhutan and arunachal Pradesh China viewed itself as having the responsibility to liberate these five fingers no doubt a pretext for Invasion though the policy Now lies dormant I wouldn't blame you for wondering if China's revived this policy as
it's on a devastating but silent war path as much as I hope for for peace I'm sure I'll be updating you soon as things unravel