As Prime Minister Narendra Modi was being received with high honours by US President Donald Trump in Washington on June 26, China ratcheted up pressure on India along the sensitive Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet trijunction of the 4,057-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC). Beijing harshly denounced New Delhi for violation of Chinese sovereignty through “illegal trespass” by the Indian Army into the Doklam Plateau to halt construction of a road by the People’s Liberation Army and “obstruct Chinese border troops’ normal activities”. It also blocked access to Indian pilgrims headed for the Kailash Mansarovar journey through the Nathu La pass until India unconditionally withdrew forces from Doklam.