on the Doklam plateau. Anglo-Chinese Treaty China claims the Doklam area as Chinese territory based on the Anglo-Chinese Treaty of 1890, negotiated between the British Empire in India and the Chinese resident in Tibet. Its purpose was to delineate the boundary between Sikkim and Tibet, and Bhutan was mentioned only in the offing. Article I of the treaty states: The first sentence implies that Sikkim is to the south of the boundary and Tibet is to its north, which is the case at least at the eastern end of the boundary. The second sentence would imply that Bhutan is to the east, but does not state anything about the extent of Bhutan to the north. These statements would make good sense in the context of the geography assumed in the maps of that time, such as Map 3. But the actual geography (Map 5) impedes any further conclusions. Here, Tibet also extends to the east of Sikkim at Mount Gipmochi, which is not implied in the wording of the treaty. Moreover, waters flowing from Gipmochi, the presumed trijunction point, do not flow into Teesta. Neither do they flow "northwards" into the rivers of Tibet. In addition to these inconsistencies, Bhutan was not a signatory to the treaty. It has no reason to be bound by its termrs. The Diplomat has commented that the continuous mountain crest or watershed mentioned in the first sentence of the 1890 treaty appears to begin very near Batang La, on the northern ridge of the Doklam plateau, and that this suggests a contradiction between the first and second sentences of Article I. Scholar Srinath Raghavan has stated that the watershed principle in the first sentence implies that the Batang La–Merug La–Sinchela ridge should be the China–Bhutan border because both Merug La, at , and Sinchela, at , are higher than Gipmochi at . Bhutan and China border agreements 1988 and 1998 Bhutan and China have held 24 rounds of boundary talks since it began in 1984. The Government of Bhutan claims that the Chinese road construction on the Doklam Plateau amounts to unilateral change to a disputed boundary in violation of the 1988 and 1998 agreements between the two nations. The agreements also prohibit the use of force and encourage both parties to strictly adhere to use peaceful means. Notwithstanding the agreement, the PLA crossed into Bhutan in 1988 and took control of the Doklam