Surprisingly Bhutan Speaks Against china Over Encroachments Along Its Border

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 One of independent India's earliest international accords was its 1949 friendship treaty with Bhutan. It was concluded at a time of uncertainty on India's periphery: the British were withdrawing, revolutionary China was moving into Tibet, with which Bhutan had age-old ties of religion and culture.

 The 1949 treaty, in effect, affirmed Bhutan's independence, provided for Indian support when required and helped bring stability to the sensitive Himalayan frontier. Just a few years later, Jawaharlal Nehru made a pioneering visit to Bhutan, which at that time involved trekking across Tibet's Chumbi Valley. 

 A major step was its admission to the United Nations, which was done with India's active support. Its greater international visibility notwithstanding, Bhutan refused to become entangled in the affairs of regional and other powers in matters where it had no direct concern; its own traditional statecraft drove it towards distance, even isolation, from the affairs of others.

 Only a very few diplomatic missions are permitted, none from the P-5 and it keeps aloof from the proliferating disputes at the UN and other multilateral forums. It thus came as a surprise when, a few weeks ago, senior Bhutanese officials spoke up against Chinese encroachments along the border and asked China to respect the procedure for border settlement that it had itself agreed on with Bhutan. 

India and China have both established military defences in the area, which have been strengthened in the course of the current disagreement. From the Chinese side, there have been accusations that India has been inciting Bhutan to take a tougher line on its claims.

In the event, China was unyielding, offered no concessions and appeared to be trying to leverage the border talks to establish a new order of relationship with Bhutan. This effort made no headway, as was revealed in the Bhutanese complaint about China's failure to observe the agreed process for border settlement.

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