{"id":37950,"date":"2023-10-30T07:20:43","date_gmt":"2023-10-30T01:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=37950"},"modified":"2025-04-23T03:12:34","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T21:42:34","slug":"china-bhutan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/china-bhutan\/","title":{"rendered":"China &#8211; Bhutan Border Dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>China &#8211; Bhutan Border Dispute<\/li>\n<li>News Summary: China-Bhutan boundary talks and its significance<\/li>\n<li>Why are the recent talks significant?<\/li>\n<li>What is the 3-Step Roadmap?<\/li>\n<li>Why India is keeping an eye on the developments related to China-Bhutan boundary dispute?<\/li>\n<li>What are the challenges in solving the border dispute between China and Bhutan?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Why in news?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>China and Bhutan held their 25th round of boundary talks in Beijing.<\/li>\n<li>Both the countries signed a Cooperation Agreement on the Responsibilities and Functions of the <u>Joint Technical Team (JTT)<\/u> on the Delimitation and Demarcation of the Bhutan-China Boundary.<\/li>\n<li>This advances their 3-Step Roadmap initiated in 2021 for border resolution, building on the positive momentum since their last talks in 2016.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>China &#8211; Bhutan Border Dispute<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/media\/editor_images\/2023\/10\/30\/12\/38\/9\/653f56596ea8103444a565f8_OI.PNG\" alt=\"\" \/><\/li>\n<li>Bhutan shares a 477 km-long border with China, which claims certain territories from Bhutan:\n<ul>\n<li>In the north \u2013Pasam-lung and Jakar-lung valleys; and\n<ul>\n<li>Both of these places are culturally vital for Bhutan.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>In the west -Doklam, Dramana, and Shakhatoe, Yak Chu and Charithang Chu, and Sinchulungpa and Langmarpo valleys.\n<ul>\n<li>These places are pasture-rich and strategically located in the Bhutan-India-China trijunction, lying <u>precariously close to India\u2019s Siliguri Corridor<\/u>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>In 2020, China made new claims on Bhutan\u2019s East in the Sakteng sanctuary.\n<ul>\n<li>Surprisingly, there has been no mention of Eastern Bhutan in the previous rounds of boundary negotiations held between the two countries.<\/li>\n<li>Hence, addition of Eastern Bhutan in the list of disputed territories has baffled Bhutan.<\/li>\n<li>This eastern sector of Bhutan has a large Bhutanese population, traditional Dzongs (Medieval fortified monastery) and two Bhutanese districts since time immemorial.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>News Summary: China-Bhutan boundary talks and its significance<\/h2>\n<h2>Why are the recent talks significant?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Boundary talks between Bhutan and China were held after a gap of seven years and indicate significant progress.<\/li>\n<li>Bhutan and the Tibetan Autonomous Region share a contiguous border to Bhutan\u2019s north and west of about 470 km.<\/li>\n<li>Since 1984, Bhutan and China had held 24 rounds of talks to resolve the disputes until 2016.<\/li>\n<li>But the 25th round appeared to have been held up after the Doklam Standoff between Indian and Chinese armies in 2017, and then the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019-2021.<\/li>\n<li>However, the two sides<u> used the pause to hold talks <\/u>at other levels in rapid succession, especially after China threatened to open a new front for a border dispute to Bhutan\u2019s east.<\/li>\n<li>Since then, the Expert Group of diplomats on both sides met in 2021 to agree on a 3-step roadmap, and the <u>first boundary delimitation technical talks were held in August 2023<\/u>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What is the 3-Step Roadmap?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Bhutan and China donot have diplomatic ties, as Bhutan has avoided diplomatic relations with all the United Nations Security Council permanent members.<\/li>\n<li>The 3-Step Roadmap involves:\n<ul>\n<li>agreeing to the border on the table;<\/li>\n<li>then visiting the sites on the ground; and<\/li>\n<li>then formally demarcating the boundary.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Why India is keeping an eye on the developments related to China-Bhutan boundary dispute?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>For India, given the breakdown in its ties with China over the standoff at the LAC from 2020, any hint of closer ties between China and Bhutan is a cause for worry.<\/li>\n<li>More specifically, New Delhi is watching the demarcation discussions over Doklam.\n<ul>\n<li>Amongst the proposals China has placed on the table is an agreement to swap areas in Doklam under Bhutanese control with areas in Jakarlung and Pasamlung which China claims.<\/li>\n<li>This is significant as India views Chinese presence near Doklam as a major security concern close to the strategic Siliguri corridor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>China has also staked claim to a wildlife sanctuary in Bhutan near the border with Arunachal.<\/li>\n<li>This assumes significance as, in December 2022, Indian and Chinese army troops clashed along the LAC in the Tawang Sector of Arunachal Pradesh.<\/li>\n<li>India\u2019s worry is over <u>China\u2019s demand for full diplomatic relations with Bhutan, and opening an Embassy in Thimphu<\/u>.\n<ul>\n<li>Given India\u2019s challenges with Chinese projects and funding in other neighbouring countries, any Chinese presence in a small country like Bhutan would be problematic.<\/li>\n<li>However, Bhutan\u2019s leadership has thus far said that all decisions would consider India\u2019s interests and has always consulted India on issues of concern.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What are the challenges in solving the border dispute between China and Bhutan?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Bhutan-China border dispute is not a bilateral issue\n<ul>\n<li>The first challenge is to see if China would be keen on discussing the trijunction areas with India.<\/li>\n<li>For this, China will have to shun its decades-old policy of treating the Bhutan-China border dispute as a bilateral issue and involve India as well.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Increasing Chinese expansion in the Western disputed regions\n<ul>\n<li>India has briefed and sensitised Bhutan of China\u2019s increasing inroads on multiple occasions.<\/li>\n<li>Bhutan lacks the material capability and presence to avert these continuing intrusions. Despite this, it stays reluctant to seek more Indian assistance, fearing more Chinese assertiveness.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>China is keen on establishing diplomatic relations with Bhutan\n<ul>\n<li>China\u2019s solution to border disputes has often been inclusive of establishing diplomatic relations with Bhutan.<\/li>\n<li>Such demands from Beijing will only intensify as its tensions with the US and India increase.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Q1)\u00a0Which countries share boundary with Bhutan?<\/h3>\n<p>Bhutan shares its borders with only two countries i.e. India and China. Bhutan, being a landlocked country does not maintain any maritime boundaries<\/p>\n<h3>Q2) Which Indian States share boundary with Bhutan?<\/h3>\n<p>Bhutan shares borders with the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh in its east, Sikkim in the west and Assam and West Bengal in the south.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/international\/why-are-the-china-bhutan-boundary-talks-significant\/article67462151.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Why are the China-Bhutan boundary talks significant?<\/u><\/a><u> | <\/u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.orfonline.org\/expert-speak\/bhutans-border-conundrum\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>ORF<\/u><\/a><u> | <\/u><a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2021\/05\/07\/china-bhutan-border-villages-security-forces\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Foreign Policy<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bhutan shares a 477 km-long border with China, which claims certain territories from Bhutan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":37951,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-37950","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}