The Chinese foreign minister met his Bhutanese counterpart as the countries held talks to resolve a decades-old border dispute
New Delhi has cautioned Bhutan against making compromises on sensitive issues such as the Doklam corridor, a disputed area in the Himalayas, as Thimphu resumed talks with Beijing to settle disputes along the boundary, the Economic Times reported on Wednesday.
India has said that any settlement of the boundary dispute should not impact the country’s “interests,” the report claimed. Doklam, a remote stretch of land claimed by both China and Bhutan, became a point of friction between India and China in 2017. The standoff lasted more than two months after Indian troops entered the Doklam plateau to prevent Chinese troops from extending a road in the border area. After weeks of negotiations, the two countries agreed to withdraw their troops to their original positions.
On Monday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his Bhutanese counterpart, Tandi Dorji, in Beijing as the neighbouring countries held the 25th round of talks on the dispute, which had been held up since the previous round in 2016.
Notably, Bhutan is the only country apart from India that is still locked in a border dispute with Beijing. “Restoration of diplomatic ties would serve the long-term interests of both countries,” Wang was quoted as saying in a statement released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
“China is ready to work with Bhutan in the same direction, seize the historic opportunity, complete this important process as soon as possible, and fix and develop China-Bhutan friendly relations in legal form,” Yi added.
According to the statement, Dorji said that Bhutan “firmly abides by the one-China principle” and is ready to work with China for an “early settlement” of the boundary dispute. According to the Chinese MFA statement, Dorji “concurred” with Wang on the border issue.
The Bhutanese readout noted “the discussions were held in a warm and friendly atmosphere in keeping with the ties of friendship and cooperation between Bhutan and China. The two sides also exchanged views on enhancing bilateral relations and matters of mutual interest.”
Tuesday’s border talks were led by Dorji and Sun Weidong, the vice foreign minister of China, who signed a “cooperation agreement” outlining the functioning of a Joint Technical Team (JTT) on the “delimitation and demarcation of the Bhutan-China boundary.”
Since 1984, China and Bhutan have held border talks alternately in Beijing and Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan. According to China’s Foreign Ministry, the two sides have also held 12 expert group meetings on the border issue as of May 2023.
Earlier this month, India and China held the 20th round of corps commander-level talks on October 9-10 as part of ongoing efforts towards disengagement and de-escalation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) without any clear indication of a breakthrough.
India’s ties with China remain strained after a clash in the contested Galwan Valley between Indian soldiers and their Chinese counterparts in June 2020 resulted in casualties on both sides. While the two sides disengaged from the Gogra-Hotsprings border area in the western Himalayas in 2022 following extensive diplomatic and military talks, friction remains.
Earlier this year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the 15th BRICS summit in Johannesburg where they discussed the border issue. A few days later, however, New Delhi lodged a protest with Beijing over China’s new ‘standard map’ showing the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin plateau as parts of China.
