https://sputniknews.in/20230526/china-bhutan-hold-border-talks-vow-to-implement-three-step-roadmap-2177744.html
China, Bhutan Hold Border Talks, Vow to Implement ‘Three-Step Roadmap’
China, Bhutan Hold Border Talks, Vow to Implement ‘Three-Step Roadmap’
Sputnik India
China and Bhutan held the 12th Expert Group Meeting (EGM) in Thimpu on 24-25 May, a Bhutanese foreign ministry statement said on Friday.
2023-05-26T17:02+0530
2023-05-26T17:02+0530
2023-05-26T17:02+0530
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China and Bhutan held the 12th Expert Group Meeting (EGM) in Thimpu on 24-25 May, where a ‘positive consensus’ was reached, a Bhutanese foreign ministry statement said on Friday.The Bhutanese delegation was led by Secretary of the International Boundaries Letho Tobdhen Tangbi, while Beijing was represented by Hong Liang, the Director-General of the Department Boundary and Ocean Affairs at the Chinese foreign ministry.The two sides “expressed their confidence” in the ‘Three-Step Roadmap’ and reiterated the importance of increasing the “frequency” of bilateral talks to make further progress on its implementation, the Bhutanese statement reads.It said that they agreed to hold the next EGM in Beijing at an early date.A Memorandum on Understanding (MoU) on a ‘Three-Step Roadmap’ was signed in October 2021 to help speed up the boundary talks between the two countries, according to officials. The text of the document hasn’t been made public till date.The two countries have been involved in border negotiations since 1984 and have nearly 24 rounds of talks since then, before they signed the MoU in 2021.According to a Global Times report on Friday, China and Bhutan share a 600-kilometer border, with the disputed areas mainly located in the western and northern parts of the country, constituting an area of about 5,000 square kilometers.India’s Concerns on the Doklam Tri-JunctionOne of the disputed areas between Bhutan and China lies near the Doklam tri-junction, located at the borders of China, Bhutan and India.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 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) from road construction. The military standoff lasted for 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.New Delhi and Beijing have also been involved in a military standoff in the eastern Ladakh region since April-May 2020.During Bhutanese monarch Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi in April this year, the Indian side said that security interests of India and Bhutan were “indivisible” and “intertwined”.New Delhi said at the time that it would further “consolidate” its defence cooperation with Bhutan, which forms a “central” aspect of the bilateral relationship.
https://sputniknews.in/20230404/india-to-consolidate-security-ties-with-bhutan-amid-doklam-concerns-1422114.html
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China, Bhutan Hold Border Talks, Vow to Implement ‘Three-Step Roadmap’
China and Bhutan don’t have formal diplomatic relations, with the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi coordinating Beijing’s ties with Thimpu. New Delhi and Thimpu, on the other hand, signed a friendship treaty in 1949.
China and Bhutan held the 12th Expert Group Meeting (EGM) in Thimpu on 24-25 May, where a ‘positive consensus’ was reached, a Bhutanese foreign ministry statement said on Friday.
The Bhutanese delegation was led by Secretary of the International Boundaries Letho Tobdhen Tangbi, while Beijing was represented by Hong Liang, the Director-General of the Department Boundary and Ocean Affairs at the Chinese foreign ministry.
The two sides “expressed their confidence” in the ‘Three-Step Roadmap’ and reiterated the importance of increasing the “frequency” of bilateral talks to make further progress on its implementation, the Bhutanese statement reads.
“The two sides reviewed the positive consensus reached at the 11th EGM in Kunming, China and held frank and constructive discussions to take forward the implementation of the Three-Step Roadmap. They expressed satisfaction on the progress made in the implementation of the Roadmap during the 12th EGM in Thimphu,” the statement noted.
It said that they agreed to hold the next EGM in Beijing at an early date.
A Memorandum on Understanding (MoU) on a ‘Three-Step Roadmap’ was signed in October 2021 to help speed up the boundary talks between the two countries, according to officials. The text of the document hasn’t been made public till date.
The two countries have been involved in border negotiations since 1984 and have nearly 24 rounds of talks since then, before they signed the MoU in 2021.
According to a Global Times report on Friday, China and Bhutan share a 600-kilometer border, with the disputed areas mainly located in the western and northern parts of the country, constituting an area of about 5,000 square kilometers.
India’s Concerns on the Doklam Tri-Junction
One of the disputed areas between Bhutan and China lies near the Doklam tri-junction, located at the borders of China, Bhutan and India.
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 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) from road construction. The military standoff lasted for 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.
New Delhi and Beijing have also been involved in a military standoff in the eastern Ladakh region since April-May 2020.
During Bhutanese monarch Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi in April this year, the Indian side said that security interests of India and Bhutan were “indivisible” and “intertwined”.
New Delhi said at the time that it would further “consolidate” its defence cooperation with Bhutan, which forms a “central” aspect of the bilateral relationship.
