- Wednesday, November 27, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
Bhutanese king Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk was set to commence a three-day visit to India on Monday (3).
During the royal visit, the two South Asian neighbours will review their bilateral cooperation and further advance their partnership.
The Bhutanese king, who is visiting at the invitation of Indian president Droupadi Murmu, will be accompanied by Bhutan’s foreign minister Dr Tandi Dorji and other senior officials, according to India’s ministry of external affairs.
While Wangchuk will meet a number of top Indian leaders, eyes will be particularly set on his talks with prime minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (4) and any possible talks over the progress of the boundary talks between Bhutan and China, with which India shares a not-so-smooth relation, according to The Hindu.
Bhutan signed a memorandum of understanding with its northern neighbour for a “3-step Roadmap” to expedite talks related to border resolution. According to The Hindu report, the talks focus on two valleys to Bhutan’s north and Doklam area to the west of the landlocked country, located close to the trijunction with its southern neighbour India, over which troops from India and China locked horns in 2017.
New Delhi has been particularly cautious about any possibility of a “swap agreement” between the two nations that could challenge its security at the tri-junction zone.
In January this year, Bhutan and China reached a “positive consensus” on how to proceed with the talks. Three days after the two nations held talks in Kunming, China, Indian foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra reached Bhutan’s capital Thimpu for bilateral discussions. There, he also called on the current Bhutanese king’s father — King Jigme Singye Wangchuk, the report added.
Last week, Bhutanese prime minister Lotay Tshering told a Belgian newspaper about his hopes to complete talks over the demarcation of boundary on disputed areas in the next “one or two more meetings” and that a “technical team” from the Chinese side was expected to visit his country soon.
But Tshering’s remark on discussing the Doklam trijunction issue trilaterally, i.e., including Bhutan, China and India as “equal” interlocutors, left New Delhi worried.
The opposition Indian National Congress said that the “so-far unshakeable relationship” between Bhutan and India is facing challenges from China’s aggression. It also urged Modi to “not hide behind smokescreens” and ensure that the long-standing partnership between India and Bhutan remains strong and gets deepened more.
Tshering later clarified his comments on Saturday, telling The Bhutanese newspaper that he had said “nothing new and there is no change in position”.
Officials from neither countries said whether King Wangchuck would speak to Modi about the latest developments in their talks, The Hindu report added.
