Doklam conundrum: Bhutan King's India visit seeks to cement mutual trust between New Delhi and Thimphu

Druk Gyalpo, or the fifth Dragon King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk, is in India on an eight-day state visit along with his aesthete Queen Jetsun Pema, their children, and other state functionaries, starting 3 November, just weeks after Bhutan’s 25th round of boundary talks with China in Beijing. The fast and unprecedented progress of seven-year-stalled talks between Bhutan and China has made its de facto security umbrella, New Delhi, fretful – if not flurried, especially after the Doklam standoff in 2017. The monarch of the poll-bound constitutional democracy, King Wangchuk, first emplaned for Assam to make his second visit to India within this year. The purpose of the visit is clear, but certainly the implications are a matter of surmise. Unlike any other capital, Bhutan’s nerve centre, Thimphu, doesn’t have a diplomatic den like Chanakyapuri in New Delhi or Gulshan in Dhaka. Esoterically, the state, which is approximately the size of Switzerland and has a population of less than a billion ecstatic people on the Himalayan mountainous terrain, doesn’t have diplomatic relations with any of the P-5 nations in the UN Security Council, including China. Just a few countries, including India, Bangladesh and Kuwait have their diplomatic missions in the country. A time-tested friend of India, Bhutan was the first nation to recognise Bangladesh after the liberation war of 1971. Bhutan and India are treaty-bound to “cooperate closely with each other on the issues relating to their national interests”. Following 24 rounds of talks with an aggressive China in 2016, Bhutan inked a “three-step roadmap” for expediting talks to demarcate the land boundary in October 2021. Most recently, while holding their 25th round of boundary talks in the last week of October, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi requested his Bhutanese counterpart Tandi Dorji to make a deal on demarcating the boundaries at the earliest and restoration of diplomatic ties. As a result of the 25th round of boundary talks, Thimphu and Beijing inked a cooperation agreement on the “Responsibilities and Functions of the Joint Technical Team (JTT) on the Delimitation and Demarcation of the Bhutan-China Boundary”. Delhi must have observed and accessed the development vividly. China has applied money and muscle to get India’s friends like Maldives, Sri Lanka and Nepal on their side. Bhutan is certainly not joining the club. At least in the near future. But New Delhi can’t miscalculate the consequences of the sheer pressure of mighty China in the coming days if Bhutan and China establish diplomatic missions in each other’s prime cities. With control of Doklam, the trilateral junction, China will have more reasons to rejoice. If China can convince Bhutan and gain territory it claims in western Bhutan, China will irk India, attempting to block the Chicken’s Neck of the strategically significant Siliguri Corridor, which links India’s North East with the heartland. However, mutual trust between New Delhi and Thimphu and dependency on each other are unquestionable. Treaty-bound and a foremost actor in India’s neighbourhood-first policy, Bhutan will never keep aside the strategic interests and security concerns of New Delhi. Delhi is not just the protectorate of the peaceful nation when it comes to air defence; it has also deployed its Military Training Team called IMTRAT in Bhutan to train the Bhutanese army upon the country’s plea in 1961. During his meeting with Indian leaders in New Delhi, King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk, who offered prayers in Kamakhya temple during his Assam visit, will certainly explain Thimphu’s stance and concerns vis-à-vis China. The discussion with the leadership in New Delhi is also very significant for scaling up support for Bhutan’s 13th Five-Year Plan, trade and combating domestic challenges. In the financial year 2023–24, India allocated Rs 2,400 crore to Bhutan. Delhi has extended its support to Thimphu in sectors like irrigation development, health, industrial development, energy, urban development, education, and, of course, Buddhism as well as culture. Space and cyberspace are two tremendous areas for collaboration. The two neighbours are ruminating on linking each other’s geography by laying a Kokrajhar-Gelephu rail link from Assam and setting up an Integrated Check Post (ICP) on the India-Bhutan border at a place adjunct to Jaigaon. In 2014, the SAARC inmates inked a framework agreement for energy cooperation with the declared objective of creating a regional energy market. But the result is not as good as it should be. India, the largest external consumer of hydroelectricity generated from Bhutan, has agreed to revise the power tariff and further consider Bhutan’s plea of distributing electricity from Bhutan’s Basocho hydropower plant. The Inland Waterways Authority of India has facilitated a smooth and two-way transportation of goods between Bangladesh and landlocked Bhutan. India has the ability of Bhutan’s power as well as other product distribution, making the Bhutanese business landscape more vibrant. Bhutan, a tradition-reserving modern nation, and India enjoy an exemplary warm relationship. Smooth visa-free traffic is one of many others to mention on this front. But now, due to economic growth and direct budget flights to several other towns, Bhutanese nationals are now visiting other countries for work, treatment and even leisure. Bhutan has a distinctive identity and India’s role in differentiating Bhutan culturally and sociologically from Tibet is undeniable. Bhutan is hardly seen as a buffer state. Rather, Delhi has extended her cordial support to Bhutan to express herself globally. The Nehru Wangchuk Cultural Centre has a tremendous role in boosting cultural ties. India should scale up cooperation with Bhutan to every prospective area and have a feasibility study on connectivity projects in Samtse, Phuentsholing, Nganglam, and Samdrupjongkhar. Moreover, the supply of essential items like petroleum, fertilisers, and coal to Bhutan should be ensured. China’s offensive strategy of acquiring India’s friend will not work in the case of Thimphu for obvious reasons. In fact, Bhutan has made the proverb ‘money can’t buy loyalty’ relevant, but now Thimphu will have to execute a defiant move to protect her as well as India’s interests. It’s the situation and circumstances that test a king and make him wiser! The author is a journalist and geo-politics specialist. He can be followed on X/Koo @Ayanangsha. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_’s views._ Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.