evidence: India said the two sides had reached a "disengagement understanding," which led to the "expeditious disengagement of border personnel at the face-off site" in Dolam, part of Doklam region that is disputed between Bhutan and China. (See part one of this series for a primer on the political geography of the region.) MEA released a follow-up statement noting that the "border personnel of India and China at the face-off site" were withdrawing. [...] Given the stakes at Doklam and the several unusual features of this standoff — it was the first instance of India facing down Chinese troops on territory claimed by a third country, Bhutan — the details of Monday’s resolution merit a closer look, both as a tactical and strategic matter. In the end, did India’s mid-June maneuver yield its desired end-state in Doklam or did China gain instead? [...] Reports during the standoff revealed a complex and difficult history of bilateral border negotiations between Bhutan and China with regard to the Doklam sector. Though definitive evidence in the public domain remains out of grasp, reports suggested that beginning in the mid-2000s — before its transition away from absolute monarchy and before the revision of its friendship treaty with India — Bhutan had considered territorial concessions to China in the Doklam sector that would have been unacceptable to India.