In a volatile neighbourhood like South Asia, India’s state-level relations have undergone numerous twists and turns in the past, but Bhutan continues to be the one country that exhibits robust relations with India since the two countries signed ‘The Treaty of Perpetual Peace and Friendship’ on August 8, 1949.
Post the Indo-China war in 1962, Bhutan requested India’s assistance in raising and training the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA). This marked the beginning of strong military ties between the two nations.
The formal diplomatic relations were established in January 1968, leading to regular high-level meetings and exchanges to ensure that mutual goodwill, understanding and trust were only get enhanced between the two countries. India and Bhutan revised the Friendship Treaty in 2007, to include a commitment that neither nation would allow its territory to be used against the other.
When the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) began constructing a road inside of Bhutan, the Indian Army launched ‘Operation Juniper’ in June 2017, and finally made China withdraw from Dokhlam in August. Bhutan too has reciprocated India’s hands of friendship with warmth.
Bhutan does not have diplomatic ties with China to date and has largely steered clear of involving itself in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of China, a proposal that India’s other neighbours have given in to.
India has been the main development partner of Bhutan, providing economic assistance since the early 1960s. A commitment of Rs 4,500 crore worth of financial support has been made by India for the 12th Five Year Plan (2018-23) of Bhutan.
This economic relationship was further cemented by Rs 400 crore for the transitional Trade Support Facility during the plan period. Fifty-one large and intermediate projects and 359 Small Development Projects and High Impact Community Development Projects are at various stages of implementation in the present plan.
Four hydro-electric projects totalling 2,136 MW are already operational in Bhutan with a power purchase arrangement with India. The mutually beneficial hydropower cooperation reached another milestone with the signing of the ‘Concession Agreement’ for 600-MW Khologchhu Hydroelectric Project on June 29, 2020.
As per the World Bank, the annual real GDP growth of Bhutan has averaged 7.5% since the 1980s. As a result, over the last decade, the Government has been able to reduce the number of extremely poor by two-thirds. From 2007 through 2017, the poverty rate dropped from 36% to 12 %, based on the $3.20/day poverty line.
India is Bhutan’s largest and most important trading partner. India is also the biggest market for several of Bhutan’s exports, including electricity, dolomite, ferrosilicon, and semifinished products. In July 2020, a route between India’s Jaigaon and Bhutan’s Ahllay was opened to improve trade connectivity to the landlocked region. More recently, India helped Bhutan with a fintech initiative via the implementation of the RuPay card.
India offers various scholarship schemes, such as the Ambassador’s Scholarship, Nehru-Wangchuck Scholarship, Undergraduate Scholarship under Project Tied Assistance, Nalanda University Scholarship, ICCR scholarship, SAARC scholarship to Bhutanese students. AYUSH scholarship can also be availed by students from Bhutan. The Indian Government has instituted three new IndiaBhutan Friendship Scholarships for Bhutanese students who are offered admission in IIT Kanpur.
Training programmes are conducted for Bhutanese finance sector professionals and judicial officers. Government officers from Bhutan are trained in premier government training institutes including the elite Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration. Recently, a space technology initiative was launched which involves training Bhutanese personnel and sending Bhutan’s satellite into space with the help of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
During the Covid-19 pandemic, India maintained a continuous supply of trade and essential items apart from medicines. India facilitated the repatriation of over 2,000 Bhutanese nationals stranded in various parts of India to Bhutan following the lockdowns. Under the Vaccine Maitri Initiative, India gifted 5.5 lakh doses of the Made-In-India Covishield vaccines to Bhutan. This ensured speedy vaccinations of over 90% of the eligible population of Bhutan by August 2021.
Shared threat perception in the Himalayas
Earlier this month, China and Bhutan signed an MoU to settle and demarcate their borders vis-àvis a three-step roadmap. Ever since the Chinese media has gone to great lengths trying to make it seem a disaster for New Delhi, underscoring their ignorance of ground realities.
Bhutan happens to be one of the few countries questioning China’s regional ambitions by not establishing diplomatic ties and demarcating territorial borders with the former. That explains why the Chinese media has gone overboard by describing the signing of an MoU to settle and demarcate China-Bhutan borders vis-à-vis a three-step roadmap as a ‘deadlock breaker’ that has eroded India’s sphere of influence and power vis-à-vis China.
Historically, Bhutan’s foreign policy is a product of a balance of threats and not the balance of power. In other words, it was the common perception of Chinese threat and intentions that drew Bhutan closer to India.
The Chinese ambitions were quite clear since the 1930s when Mao had claimed Bhutan to be a part of China. China’s Tibet annexation and inhumane treatment of Tibetans pushed Bhutan to embrace India and seek its security and economic aid. There is little possibility that Bhutan would move closer to China for its economic incentives, as Bhutan’s identity and unique measure of GNH has for long avoided massive economic investments and environmentally unsustainable projects.
This is besides the fact that the credibility of China and its investments have continued to hit rock bottom with the former’s assertiveness and debt-trap diplomacy. Finally, since both India and Bhutan enjoy a special relationship and respect the 2007 treaty, it is an exaggeration to believe that Bhutan would establish diplomatic ties with China without informing or discussing with India.
China is on a quest of its own and its recent engagement with Bhutan- one of India’s closest neighbours and friends has enabled China to build a seemingly benign narrative for the world while belittling India and its efforts in the neighbourhood.
China’s increasing presence in the neighbourhood has triggered and continues to trigger several anxieties for India. Having exposed much of the neighbourhood to China’s investments and debt-trap diplomacy, India is now more committed to preventing the same in Bhutan.
