India cautious as Bhutan, China sign pact

Bhutan’s foreign minister Tandi Dorji and China’s assistant foreign minister Wu Jianghao signed the MoU during a virtual ceremony.

Updated on: Oct 15, 2021, 04:29:14 IST

By Rezaul H Laskar, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

Bhutan and China on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on a “three-step roadmap” for expediting negotiations on their boundary dispute, prompting a cautious response from India against the backdrop of the standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Bhutan and China on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on a roadmap for expediting negotiations on their boundary dispute. (MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS/ROYAL GOVT OF BHUTAN.)

“We have noted the signing of the MoU between Bhutan and China today [Thursday],” external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said during a regular news briefing to a question about the MoU.

“You are aware that Bhutan and China have been holding boundary negotiations since 1984. India has similarly been holding boundary negotiations with China,” he said, without offering a response to a query on whether Bhutan kept India in the loop about the agreement with China.

Bhutan’s foreign minister Tandi Dorji and China’s assistant foreign minister Wu Jianghao signed the MoU during a virtual ceremony earlier in the day. China’s ambassador to India, Sun Weidong, and Bhutan’s envoy to India, Maj Gen Vetsop Namgyel, also joined the event.

The agreement came four years after Indian and Chinese troops were involved in a 73-day face-off within Bhutanese territory at Doklam. That face-off began in June 2017 after India sent in its troops to prevent the construction of roads and infrastructure by Chinese troops in violation of agreements between Bhutan and China.

Given the extremely close coordination between India and Bhutan on foreign policy issues, it is unlikely that New Delhi was caught off-guard by Thursday’s development. Experts said India’s cautious response was understandable in view of the implications the MoU could have for New Delhi’s already fraught relations with Beijing because of the LAC standoff.

China does not have a diplomatic presence in Bhutan’s capital Thimphu, and the Chinese embassy in New Delhi coordinates ties between the two sides.

Following the standoff in eastern Ladakh, China claimed for the first time in July 2020 that it had a boundary dispute with Bhutan in the eastern sector, a region that borders Arunachal Pradesh, which is also claimed by Beijing. The text of the MoU was not made public by Thimpu or Beijing.

A statement from Bhutan’s foreign ministry said the MoU on the “three-step roadmap for expediting the Bhutan-China boundary negotiations” will “provide a fresh impetus to the boundary talks”.

“It is expected that the implementation of this roadmap in a spirit of goodwill, understanding and accommodation will bring the boundary negotiations to a successful conclusion that is acceptable to both sides,” the statement said.

In response to questions on the LAC standoff, Bagchi said India expects China to work towards the speedy resolution of all remaining issues in eastern Ladakh while fully abiding by bilateral agreements . The situation on the LAC was due to China’s unilateral attempts to alter the status quo, he said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rezaul H Laskar
Rezaul Hasan Laskar is Foreign Editor with the Hindustan Times, which he joined in 2015. He began as a journalist in his hometown of Shillong in northeast India and has worked in newspapers and wire services over the years. He moved to New Delhi in 1997 and initially focused on defence, national security, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, while also working of foreign policy and international relations. He has been part of the media delegation accompanying PMs on foreign visits and has reported from destinations ranging from Tibet to Ukraine. Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Press Trust of India correspondent in Pakistan, one of only two Indian journalists allowed to report from the country. He extensively covered Pakistan’s domestic politics and the life of the common people, as well as the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on India-Pakistan relations and the subsequent trial in Pakistan of the suspects involved in the attack. As part of his reportage in Pakistan, he travelled the breadth of the country, from the Swat Valley to Balochistan. Reza’s first gig in journalism was writing a weekly music column, and music – especially classic rock – remains a keen interest. He is also a movie buff and a keen photographer.Read More

Get the latest India News, breaking headlines and real-time updates from across the country. Stay informed about politics, government policies, crime, weather and major national developments.