Dhaka: Bhutan is on the verge of resolving its border issue with neighboring China, the country’s Foreign Minister Tandi Dorji told in an interview to WION.
Speaking to WION’s Sidhant Sibbal on the sidelines of the 6th Indian Ocean Conference (IOC) in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka, Dorji affirmed that there is peace and tranquility in the border, and denied that China was encroaching on its territory. He further hoped that the demarcation of the border is done as soon as possible to avoid any future possible disagreements.
“Bhutan and China share a very close and cordial relationship. Our border in the north has not been demarcated. We have had 24 rounds of talks and we continue to have our expert group meeting and we hope that it will come to be resolved very soon,” he said.
“Last year, we signed the three-step approach to resolve the border… So, we hope that this can be taken forward in the upcoming meeting. As far as the border is concerned, there is peace and tranquillity. We hope that the demarcation of the border happens soon,” he added.
When asked about China’s stand on the contentious Doklam border issue, the minister said, “From our side, the Chinese have always been on their side of the territory and we have not seen them getting into the Bhutanese territories.”
Doklam is an area spread over less than 100 sq km comprising a plateau and a valley at the trijunction between China’s Chumbi Valley to the north, Bhutan’s Ha District to the east, and India’s Sikkim state to the west.
The plateau is also claimed by China. Bhutan has a written agreement with China that pending the final resolution of the boundary issue, peace and tranquility should be maintained.
The border issue also became one of the flashpoints of the India-China dispute in 2017 when the Indian troops, in aid of their Bhutan counterparts, objected to the Chinese army constructing a road in the area.
Speaking on the India-Bhutan railway connectivity, Dorji gave reasons why didn’t take off as expected.
“The connectivity MoU was signed but could not be executed because of some difficulties. So, now we have relooked the site and chosen a site on India’s Assam border to make it much easier for the railway to be connected,” he said.
He, however, said that Bhutan, India, and Bangladesh are working on other infrastructure projects that connect the three countries.
“Bhutan has recently requested for its second international airport and we have signed a number of agreements on the routes that will connect Bhutan India and Bangladesh. Also, this time we have come to an agreement where we will build road infrastructure so that the transport system can be enhanced and that’s why I feel confident that going forward it is important that BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal Initiative) should be relooked upon.”
The BBIN Motor Vehicle Agreement is a landmark agreement signed by the member countries, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal in 2015 to facilitate the unhindered movement of people and cargo between.
The foreign minister also thanked Indian space agency ISRO for launching Bhutan’s first satellite.
“I thank ISRO chairman Somanath for visiting Bhutan last month, and also for launching the India-Bhutan satellite.”
“When ISRO chairman came to Bhutan he said that we will be able to collect the data from the satellite and help us monitor our forest and our land used patterns,” he added.
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