Best thing to do was NOT to build a road into Bhutanese disputed territory. They had treaties in1988 and so on NOT to change the status quo in "disputed" land with Bhutan and India. Any change would result in border issues. What the PLA did may have been directed by CPC or a rogue move either way upsetting the ITBP, IA ,Bhutan and India. There was no need for a road into that Doklam area. Never was. Whats interesting is that 90th anniversary Xi is laying off 200 thousand or MORE PLA as they modernize. There is domestic issue within China and PLA. Their ranks are being changed. I think what we are seeing is fallout from internal problems. Xi's control of the PLA or CPC may be lacking or loosening from his rivals. Because, its not ballot box elections, its cold hard money and guns power that controls china. It would be a good idea to save face. But the Chinese media, has made it a big issue with the domestic audience that could make this difficult. I've never seen such ranting from China before...not even SCS.
What if the Indians build machine gun nests? I think that'll take the aggressive right out of them. PLA isn't stupid, well atleast a soldier isn't.
What dialogue? Can we trust the PLA to hold their word? India is not escalating the situation nore is Bhutan. You want war, you loose your soldiers. 9-1 is ratio required in mountains to attack enemy dug in positions. 3-1 in normal situations. I don't think India will pay any big price. I think PLA has a lot more to loose than India. But hey, I could be wrong.
