In ‘big test’ for India, China and Bhutan push to solve border dispute and establish official ties

[Nan Yang]

Bhutanese Foreign Minister Tandi Dorji (left) attends talks with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi in Beijing on Monday. Photo: Xinhua

In ‘big test’ for India, China and Bhutan push to solve border dispute and establish official ties

• Chinese and Bhutanese officials wrap up new round of border talks and agree to work towards formal diplomatic relations
• Analyst says thaw in ties is ‘severe strategic setback’ for New Delhi’s security efforts in Himalayas, where it faces boundary spat with Beijing

Shi Jiangtao
Published: 10:00pm, 25 Oct, 2023

China and Bhutan agreed to push for the early settlement of their border dispute and the establishment of diplomatic ties in what mainland observers described as “a breakthrough” in Beijing’s efforts to pull the Himalayan kingdom away from New Delhi.

Wrapping up a new round of border talks in Beijing on Tuesday, the two countries signed a cooperation agreement on the responsibility and functions of a technical team for the delimitation and demarcation of the boundary.

A joint press release issued late on Tuesday said the talks, led by Bhutanese Foreign Minister Tandi Dorji and China’s foreign vice-minister Sun Weidong, were held in a “warm and friendly atmosphere”. It added that both sides “agreed to build on the positive momentum”.

In separate meetings with the visiting Bhutanese diplomat, Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng and Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the kingdom to resolve the border issue and set up official diplomatic ties with Beijing.



Bhutan, traditionally a close ally of India, lacks diplomatic ties with China and the other four permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. Of China’s 14 land neighbours, Bhutan and India are the only two countries that have not yet resolved border disputes with Beijing.

Han described Bhutan and China as “friendly neighbours sharing mountains and rivers” and hailed the progress in bilateral ties in recent years, according to the official Xinhua news agency, which said both sides agreed to accelerate the demarcation process and the establishment of diplomatic relations.

Dorji was quoted by Xinhua as reiterating Bhutan’s support for the one-China principle.

“Both sides have firm determination and a sincere desire to demarcate their boundaries and establish diplomatic relations at an early date,” Dorji said, adding that Bhutan was willing to maintain the momentum of cooperation with China and push for the greater development of bilateral ties

In a meeting with Dorji on Monday, Wang said China was ready to conclude boundary negotiations and establish diplomatic relations with Bhutan “as soon as possible”.

A border settlement and diplomatic ties with China “fully serves the long-term and fundamental interests of Bhutan”, said Wang, the top foreign policy aide to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Zhao Gancheng, a researcher at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said the agreement and remarks by both sides signalled a fresh consensus on the unresolved border issues, marking an important breakthrough.

Zhao said if China could establish ties with Bhutan, it would mark major progress for Beijing’s diplomacy in South Asia as the landlocked Himalayan nation’s foreign policy had been heavily influenced by India.

“It is very encouraging, but this breakthrough will no doubt pose a big test for India. It remains to be seen if and how New Delhi would respond. Will it intervene again like it used to do in the past?” he said.

According to Zhao, China and Bhutan reached a similar consensus on establishing diplomatic ties around 1996 but failed to move ahead due to opposition from India.

Between 1984 and 2016, there were 24 rounds of border talks between China and Bhutan. Talks were suspended after the Doklam border crisis in the summer of 2017, when Chinese and Indian troops were locked in a 73-day face-off in the remote area where Bhutan, the Indian state of Sikkim and China’s Tibet autonomous region meet.

Doklam is of strategic importance because of its proximity to Siliguri Corridor, known as the Chicken’s Neck, which connects India’s northeastern states to the rest of the country.

Border negotiations picked up after the two sides signed a “three-step road map” for expediting talks in October 2021.

Wang Dehua, a regional affairs expert at the Shanghai Municipal Centre for International Studies, noted the current Bhutanese administration led by Prime Minister Lotay Tshering was considered Beijing-friendly, but India remained the biggest hurdle in China’s ties with Bhutan.

“This is a good opportunity for China and Bhutan to get the job [of establishing diplomatic ties] done. But that said, I doubt if it is possible for the Bhutanese government to make such a major foreign policy decision without seeking India’s support,” Wang said.

“There is probably a 50 per cent chance of success, depending mainly on whether India would give the green light. But remarks by Bhutanese officials [about seeking closer ties with China] have nonetheless posed a dilemma for New Delhi, which in turn could be leverage for China vis-à-vis India.”



In an interview with Belgian newspaper La Libre in March, Tshering said Bhutan did not have “major border problems” with China and expressed hope that the demarcation of territories could be completed within “one or two meetings”.

He also denied reports that China had built villages inside Bhutanese territory and said India, China, and Bhutan all had equal say in resolving the Doklam plateau dispute, raising concerns in New Delhi about Thimphu’s shifting stance.

The Pentagon’s annual report on Chinese military power last week said China continued to develop infrastructure along its disputed border with India as well as new villages in contested areas in neighbouring Bhutan.

Robert Barnett, founder and former director of Columbia University’s modern Tibetan studies programme, noted things seemed to be moving forward quickly as the Bhutanese government tries to clinch a border deal with China before its term runs out next month.

“So far I think we have not seen any serious indications that India is unhappy with Bhutan’s moves on this issue, and it seems unlikely that Bhutan would act without having support for its plans from India,” he said.

“But I think it’s clear that the Chinese side stands to gain from any flux or uncertainty in relations between India and the other Himalayan states. When China decided to resort to the exceptionally heavy pressure tactics it is using on Bhutan, it must have been aware that this could unsettle the existing alliances in the region, and perhaps that is its aim.”

Jagannath Panda, head of the Stockholm Centre for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs at the Institute for Security and Development Policy in Sweden, said China’s efforts to draw Bhutan closer were clearly aimed at India.

He described the warming China-Bhutan ties as “a severe strategic setback” to India’s Himalayan security undertaking.

“China’s boundary negotiation strategy with Bhutan is not entirely a new episode. What is however striking is Beijing’s continuous persuasion to have a boundary deal with Bhutan overlooking India’s concern while complicating the existing boundary dispute with India. This certainly complicates the Himalayan valley security environment,” he said.

 

[Nan Yang]

Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck arrives to offer prayers at Kamakhya temple in Guwahati, India. Photo: AP

Can King Jigme’s Delhi visit ease Indian concerns over Bhutan-China border talks?

• India’s biggest concern is Bhutan could cede land to China that is close to the Doklam area which connects northeastern India to the rest of the country
• Bhutan-India ties have historically been strong, and New Delhi has wielded influence in trying to take care of Bhutan’s security interests

Biman Mukherji
Published: 6:30pm, 8 Nov, 2023

Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck’s ongoing eight-day visit to New Delhi is likely to be aimed at reassuring India that the Himalayan nation’s talks to resolve border issues with China will not compromise Indian security interests, analysts say.

Bhutanese Foreign Minister Tandi Dorji’s statement last month that the nation was seeking to quickly settle a decades-long border dispute with China, and establish diplomatic relations with Beijing, had sounded alarm bells in Delhi as the Himalayan nation is a close ally.

“The indications are that they [Bhutan and China] are close to a border agreement. The [Bhutanese] king is visiting to soothe New Delhi’s concerns,” said Manoj Joshi, distinguished fellow at the Observer Research Foundation.

Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck visits Kaziranga National Park in India’s Golaghat district. Photo: AFP/Directorate of Information and Public Relations Assam

Delhi’s biggest concern is that Bhutan could end up ceding land to China as part of a broader agreement that is close to the Doklam area, where a strategic narrow strip of land, known as the Chicken’s Neck, connects northeastern Indian states to the rest of the country.

“I have a feeling that Doklam will not come into the picture,” Joshi said.

Indian and Chinese troops were locked in a stand-off over the strategic region in 2017, where the borders of the two countries and Bhutan meet. Special representatives from each country had then agreed that all the three nations would be involved in talks over the area.

However, that was not a formal agreement, Joshi said. As long as the Doklam area was left out of the China-Bhutan border talks, India was likely to have no problems, he added.

“The Tri-Junction agreement, as and when arrived at, will have to involve all the three nations, and it is important that Bhutan shares and accommodates India’s concerns in the Doklam region over access to the Chicken’s Neck corridor,” said C. Uday Bhaskar, director of the independent think tank Society for Policy Studies based in Delhi.

Tensions between India and China have simmered since a border clash between troops three years ago in the Galwan area, and it is unlikely any settlement reached between Bhutan and China would pave the way immediately for a broader agreement, analysts say.

Delhi needed to remain invested in bilateral ties with Bhutan and assuage any concerns that Thimphu might have, Bhaskar said, adding that India should look to build people-to-people relations, and provide environmentally-sustainable aid as well as digital technology.

Special relationship

Ties between the two countries have historically been strong, and India has been trying to take care of Bhutan’s security interests. It has wielded influence over Bhutan, whose trade largely relies on road networks that open out through India to the rest of the world.

For much of its history, Bhutan has maintained few bilateral ties except with India. It signed a treaty in 1910 to become a protectorate of British India, allowing the British to guide its foreign affairs and defence, and was among the first few nations to recognise India’s independence in 1947. In 1949, Bhutan and India signed a Treaty of Friendship, and in 2007 renegotiated the treaty to replace the provision that required it to take India’s guidance on foreign policy with broader sovereignty.

In the last two to three decades, particularly, the Himalayan nation has been trying to dispel the image that it is a protectorate of India. While Indian troops have been stationed in the nation for years as a training team for Bhutanese forces, there is no defence agreement between the two nations, Joshi said.

Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck visits the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati on November 3. Photo: AFP

Bhutanese Foreign Minister Dorji, who was in Beijing last month, had said the kingdom wanted to establish diplomatic relations with China.

“Over the last few decades, Bhutan has been one country which has related to India in a very special way. Some of the bonds might be getting weaker and all those factors are putting pressure on the Bhutanese approach to India and China,” said Harsh Pant, a professor of international relations at King’s College London.

Bhutan has for decades had a troubled relationship with China over boundary issues and at various times published maps claiming sections, leading to territorial disputes.

Pant suggested India could be worried Beijing might indicate to Thimphu it was interested in resolving border disputes on condition both sides established diplomatic ties. “China has an incentive to wean Bhutan away from India, [and] for many in India, that would be a matter of concern.”

Overall, Bhutan has been largely supportive of India and even helped Delhi to take action against anti-India insurgents who were trying to set up bases in the country, analysts said. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had chosen Bhutan as the first country to visit after coming to power because of the special relationship.

Earlier this week, Modi said in a comment posted on social media platform X about Bhutanese King Wangchuk’s visit that the two held “very warm and positive discussions on various facets of the unique and exemplary India-Bhutan relationship”.

The outcome of the talks between the two sides will be known only on Friday when the Bhutanese king concludes his visit.

Rather than trying to push Bhutan, India was likely to rely on its geographical proximity as well as maintain cordial relations, as the Himalayan kingdom would on its own realise that its ties with India were in the best interests of its own security, Joshi said.

 

[kankan326]

As a victim of colonialism, after UK left, India itself inherited colonialism from UK. Victim immediately became oppressor in a very smooth manner. Indians don't hate British. They admire British instead. They don't hate oppressors. What the hate is the oppressors are not Indians.

 

[etylo]

The la la land must be unhappy and will try to sabotage the deal in whatever way it can, lol, what a bully and sore loser in the region.