https://sputniknews.in/20230404/india-to-consolidate-security-ties-with-bhutan-amid-doklam-concerns-1422114.html
India to ‘Consolidate’ Security Ties With Bhutan Amid Doklam Concerns
India to ‘Consolidate’ Security Ties With Bhutan Amid Doklam Concerns
Sputnik India
New Delhi has said that it would bolster its “time-tested” security cooperation with Thimpu, amid concerns in Indian strategic circles about the fate of the strategically-located Doklam Plateau.
2023-04-04T19:08+0530
2023-04-04T19:08+0530
2023-04-04T19:08+0530
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India has said that it would bolster its “time-tested” security cooperation with Bhutan, amid concerns within strategic circles regarding the fate of the strategically-located Doklam Plateau.India Reiterates Support for BhutanGiven the continuing border dispute, Bhutan doesn’t have formal diplomatic ties with China. On the other hand, the nation signed a friendship treaty with New Delhi back in 1949. India's Kwatra highlighted that security cooperation was one of the “central” aspects of the India-Bhutan relationship, adding that New Delhi’s long-standing position that the security of India and Bhutan was “indivisible” and “intertwined”.The comments by the Indian Foreign Secretary came after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bhutanese monarch Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, who is on a three-day visit to India since Monday.Besides Prime Minister Modi, Wangchuck has held talks with Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar and Ajit Doval, the PM's National Security Advisor (NSA).The Doklam ProblemChina and Bhutan share a 477-km border that is disputed at several locations.Since 1984, the two nations have held 24 rounds of border talks in a bid to resolve the border dispute.In 2017, the Doklam Plateau became the site of a military face-off between the Indian Army, and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) after New Delhi moved its soldiers to Bhutan to prevent the PLA from road construction. The face-off lasted 73 days.The road at the Doklam Plateau would have provided access to the Jhamperi Ridge, which overlooks India’s “chicken-neck corridor” -- a narrow strip of land connecting India’s north-eastern states to the western part.In October 2021, the two countries signed an MoU on a "three-step roadmap for expediting boundary negotiations".The 11th Expert Group Meeting (EPG) between Bhutanese and Chinese officials in January this year witnessed the two sides, “simultaneously push forward the implementation of all the steps of the Three-Step Roadmap," as revealed in a joint statement.
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India to ‘Consolidate’ Security Ties With Bhutan Amid Doklam Concerns
Located at the tri-junction of India, Bhutan and China, the Doklam Plateau is controlled by Bhutan, but claimed by Beijing, and is vital for India’s security.
India has said that it would bolster its “time-tested” security cooperation with Bhutan, amid concerns within strategic circles regarding the fate of the strategically-located Doklam Plateau.
“We have a time-tested framework of security cooperation between India and Bhutan. There are several elements to it. We will continue to work on it to shape and consolidate it further,” Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra told a press briefing on Tuesday.
India Reiterates Support for Bhutan
Given the continuing border dispute, Bhutan doesn’t have formal diplomatic ties with China.
On the other hand, the nation signed a friendship treaty with New Delhi back in 1949.
India's Kwatra highlighted that security cooperation was one of the “central” aspects of the India-Bhutan relationship, adding that New Delhi’s long-standing position that the security of India and Bhutan was “indivisible” and “intertwined”.
“The government of India very closely follows the situation…” the Indian Foreign Secretary said, adding that New Delhi would take all the measures it deemed as necessary to “safeguard” its interests.
The comments by the Indian Foreign Secretary came after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bhutanese monarch Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, who is on a three-day visit to India since Monday.
Besides Prime Minister Modi, Wangchuck has held talks with Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar and Ajit Doval, the PM's National Security Advisor (NSA).
China and Bhutan share a 477-km border that is disputed at several locations.
Since 1984, the two nations have held 24 rounds of border talks in a bid to resolve the border dispute.
In 2017, the Doklam Plateau became the site of a military face-off between the Indian Army, and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) after New Delhi moved its soldiers to Bhutan to prevent the PLA from road construction. The face-off lasted 73 days.
The road at the Doklam Plateau would have provided access to the Jhamperi Ridge, which overlooks India’s “chicken-neck corridor” -- a narrow strip of land connecting India’s north-eastern states to the western part.
In October 2021, the two countries signed an MoU on a "three-step roadmap for expediting boundary negotiations".
According to media reports, Bhutan and China have been negotiating a land swap agreement to reach a border deal settlement, in which Beijing seeks control over Doklam in exchange for foregoing its territorial claims to other disputed parts — an offer Bhutan has so far rejected.
The 11th Expert Group Meeting (EPG) between Bhutanese and Chinese officials in January this year witnessed the two sides, “simultaneously push forward the implementation of all the steps of the Three-Step Roadmap," as revealed in a joint statement.
