Preserving Buddhism in Bhutan amid Sinicisation of Tibet

The first visit to Bhutan by an Indian foreign secretary was when R K Nehru, accompanied by his wife and some officials, visited Sikkim, Tibet and Bhutan from June 6 to July 2, 1955; note that the trip lasted nearly one month.

After a stopover in the Chumbi Valley of Tibet, the party took four days to walk to Bhutan’s border and later to Paro Dzong, where Nehru was warmly received by the ‘Maharaja’; the party stayed four days in Bhutan.

During his discussions with the Maharaja, the grandfather of the present King, who expressed the wish that the Indian prime minister should visit Bhutan as soon as possible: “This shows some change in the traditional Bhutanese attitude of keeping the door shut against Indians. The door will not be thrown open, but I think the Maharaja is groping his way towards closer relations with India,” remarked the foreign secretary.

The recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be seen in this historical context.

Modi’s Visit to Bhutan

At the invitation of the King of Bhutan, Prime Minister Modi was on a two-day state visit to Bhutan on November 11 and 12, 2025. During the stay, the Prime Minister “joined the people of Bhutan in marking the 70th Birth Anniversary of His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo in Changlimithang,” says a communique.

PM Modi also took part in the Global Peace Prayer Festival in Thimphu, and as a symbolic gesture, India sent the Holy Piprahwa Relics of Lord Buddha from India. The relics, including bone fragments, crystal caskets, gold ornaments, gemstones, and a sandstone coffer, were excavated in 1898 by British archaeologist William Claxton Peppé at the Piprahwa stupa, Kapilavastu, where the capital of the ancient Shakya kingdom was located.

Like during his previous visits, the prime minister reaffirmed India’s unwavering support for Bhutan, including Thimbu’s 13th Five-Year Plan. A joint communique mentioned, “The Bhutanese side appreciated India’s assistance for Bhutan’s 13th Five-Year Plan period for various projects under implementation across Bhutan and their contribution to the country’s development.”

The Global Peace Prayer Festival: A Show of Unity

The visit coincided with a very special event, The Global Peace Prayer Festival. A Bhutanese release had announced: “In a world increasingly characterised by conflict, polarisation, and discord—where hope for a shared golden age of peace and prosperity is fading for a large part of humanity—we warmly invite you to the Global Peace Prayer Festival. This transformative spiritual gathering will take place in Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan.”

It added that it would bring together “an unparalleled assembly of eminent lamas from all schools of Buddhism—within Bhutan and beyond—uniting their voices for the healing of humanity. Spiritual leaders from all vehicles of Buddhism (Theravada and Mahayana) and all schools of Vajrayana Buddhism are expected to participate,” before concluding: “This unprecedented gathering will unite spiritual leaders, scholars, and practitioners from every school and vehicle of Buddhism, harnessing the transformative power of loving-kindness and compassionate awareness to co-create a future rooted in peace and happiness.”

The Northern Neighbour

Through this gathering, including a religious service called Jabzhi Dhoechog held at Kuenselphodrang, dedicated to global peace and happiness, one could not forget that Bhutan’s northern neighbour (a euphemism for ‘Communist China’) does not believe in prayers but is trying to take the lead in Buddhism the world over.

The Bhutanese government announced, “The stupendous ritual, seldom performed on such a grand scale, combines peaceful offerings with wrathful protection—for healing, cleansing, and purifying the body, speech, and mind of negative karma.”

The main part of the ritual is focused on subduing and transforming the Four Māras which represent the four great obstacles or ‘demons’ that hinder beings from attaining enlightenment.

Maras are the ‘killers’ — which place obstacles and obstructions for one’s (or a nation’s) spiritual progress. Buddhists consider these obstacles not only as external forces but also as inner psychological or spiritual defilements. This grand show, which culminated with the Kalachakra puja, was certainly an unsaid, untold message to atheist China.

A Unified Gathering

It is interesting to note that all prayers were presided over by His Holiness the Je Khenpo, the Chief Lama of Bhutan.

Lamas, abbots and rinpoches representing all the sects of ‘Tibetan’ Buddhism, including the Yellow Sect (or Gelukpa), who are not often seen in Bhutan due to historical issues with the Drukpa sect of Drukyul, or Land of the Dragon, as the Bhutanese call their country.

One should particularly mention the presence of Ling Rinpoche, one of the recently appointed ‘regents’ of the Dalai Lama, who received a grand welcome at Paro International Airport by Bhutan’s Chief Protocol Officer. Another senior Geluk lama, the Jangtse Choeje Gosok Rinpoche of the Gaden Jangtse Monastery in Mundgod, Karnataka, also participated.

On November 9, Ling Rinpoche had an audience with the Queen Mother, known as Gyalyum Ashi Kalsang Chöden Wangchuck, who, at the age of 95, is a survivor of R K Nehru’s visit in 1955. She graciously hosted a high tea and had “a warm, thoughtful, and meaningful discussion” with the Tibetan Rinpoche.

Jigme Singye Wangchuck: The Fourth King

The Peace Festival was held in honour of Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the Fourth King of Bhutan (sometimes known as K4), on the occasion of his 70th birth anniversary.

Incidentally, K4 was the king who introduced some degree of democracy in Bhutan with an elected prime minister and abdicated in favour of his son, the present King (K5).

He is still dealing with the border issue with China and India, having walked every inch of his mountainous frontiers over the past decades; the boundary issue is certainly something which would have been discussed with the Indian prime minister, India being extremely concerned about the Chinese grabbing territory since the Doklam incident in 2017.

PM Modi later joined the King of Bhutan, the Fourth King of Bhutan, and the Bhutanese prime minister for the Kalachakra initiation ceremony at Changlimithang Stadium.

The Other Side of the Ridge

At the same time in Tibet, Wang Junzheng, the Tibetan Autonomous Region’s Party Secretary, called for an enlarged meeting of all ‘Communist’ lamas on the plateau. He called for the Sinicisation of Tibetan Buddhism, stressing that to promote this Sinicisation, “We must take the consciousness of the Chinese national community and promote the construction of the Chinese national community as an important goal.”

It means that the Tibetans should forget about their own individuality and become Chinese: “The consciousness of the Chinese national community is the emotional bond of national identity and national integration, and it is the ideological cornerstone of the reunification of the motherland and national unity. Casting a solid sense of the Chinese national community is the main line of the party’s national work …and it is also the main line of all the work in ethnic areas.”

Ethnic areas mean Tibet, Xinjiang and Mongolia.

Wang Junzheng stressed that strengthening the governance of religious affairs in accordance with the Communist law is an inevitable requirement for the implementation of Xi Jinping’s rule of law: “It is necessary to carry out in-depth education on the history of the Party, the history of New China, the history of reform and opening up, the history of the development of the Chinese nation, the history of the development of the Chinese nation, the history of local and the motherland,” he argued.

In this context, the coming together of so many rinpoches and realised lamas from all the schools of Buddhism was an important and timely initiative for the survival of Buddha Dharma as it has been practised for centuries in Bhutan, Tibet and the Himalayas.

The Visit of R K Nehru

Let us come back to R K Nehru’s visit in 1955.

His first observation was that there was still fear and suspicion in the Bhutanese mind, “but there is also a growing sense of the need for India’s protection and help. The Maharaja hinted to me that the subsidy which Bhutan is getting is not adequate”.

For the Indian foreign secretary, there was no doubt that the monarch (husband of Ashi Kalsang Chöden) felt, “Perhaps he also feels that we have been misinformed of the situation in Bhutan, and he would like us to see things for ourselves.”

Today, India and Bhutan have gone a long way; one could say that the friendship between the two countries is ‘as high as the Himalaya’, to paraphrase China’s slogan about its relation with Pakistan (though in the Indo-Bhutan case, it is based on far higher values).

The foreign secretary, however, admitted that he had useful talks with the Maharaja and Jigmi Dorji, the prime minister: “the more progressive element in the state. I was also impressed by the young Maharani, whose influence is likely to increase if she can produce a son.”

Her son was K4, a remarkable monarch indeed, who continues to keep a great interest in the welfare of his kingdom and the relations with India, which are presently blooming.

(The writer is Distinguished Fellow, Centre of Excellence for Himalayan Studies, Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence (Delhi). Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.)