New Delhi: Just a week after making progress in its boundary talks with China that could have a significant impact on Indian strategic interests, Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck is visiting India.
During his eight-day visit starting Friday — his second such trip this year — the Bhutanese King will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will be accompanied by top officials, the ministry of external affairs said in a statement Thursday.
“During the visit, His Majesty the King of Bhutan will meet the Prime Minister of India. The External Affairs Minister and senior officials of the Government of India will call on His Majesty the King of Bhutan. His Majesty the King of Bhutan will also visit the states of Assam and Maharashtra,” the MEA said.
As ThePrint reported last week, China and Bhutan have agreed to fast-track the talks over delimitation and demarcation of the border besides establishing diplomatic ties.
The border talks could have an impact on India’s strategic interests because they involve areas near India’s borders with Bhutan that could fall into Chinese control.
Noting that both countries enjoy friendship, cooperation, and mutual trust, the MEA statement said, “The visit would provide an opportunity to both the sides to review the entire gamut of bilateral cooperation and to further advance the exemplary bilateral partnership, across diverse sectors.”
This comes just over a week after Bhutan’s foreign minister Tandi Dorji met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and Vice-President Han Zheng on his two-day official visit to the country.
During the visit on 23 October and 24 October, Dorji and Han agreed to “accelerate” the boundary demarcation process and establish diplomatic ties between the two countries, China’s state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
Bhutan — whose foreign policy had, until now, largely been in sync with India’s — does not maintain official diplomatic ties with China, with which it has had tense relations.
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Bhutan-China boundary issues
As ThePrint reported last month, China claims around 764 sq km of land in northwestern and central Bhutan in a dispute that dates back to the Chinese occupation of Tibet in the 1950s.
In 1959, China seized control of eight enclaves of Bhutan and refused to recognise the ‘dividing line’ between Tibet and Bhutan.
Since then negotiations between the two countries focused on three areas of contention — the Jakarlung and Pasamlung areas in north Bhutan, and the well-known Doklam area in west Bhutan, an area where the militaries of India and China had a standoff in 2017.
In 2020, Beijing asserted ownership of the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary, which is located in eastern Bhutan and borders Arunachal Pradesh. For India, Doklam, a plateau with an area of approximately 89 sq. km and a width of less than 10 km, is a point of major concern — since it overlooks the Siliguri corridor, a gateway to India’s Northeast, it’s of strategic importance.
While New Delhi considers it to be part of Bhutan, Beijing sees it as an extension of Chumbi Valley, the wedge between Sikkim and Bhutan.
In 2017, Beijing’s attempts to build a road in Doklam led to a stand-off with New Delhi for over two months. China agreed not to construct the road, ending the stand-off. India was concerned about the possibility of Beijing taking over Doklam.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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