There was lately, an emerging view in Bhutan, wedged geographically between India and China, that the kingdom should perhaps balance its ties with its two neighbours so that Thimphu isn’t squeezed between the giants again.
President Xi Jinping’s strategy to expand its territorial dispute with Bhutan to needle India appears to have brought the tiny kingdom nestled in the Himalayas closer to New Delhi.
“It was never spelt out in black and white but this view was gaining ground over the last two-three years,” people in New Delhi and Thimphu said.
But there has been a change in Thimpu’s approach over the last one month after Beijing stunned Bhutan at the June meeting of the US-based multinational fund, Global Environment Facility, when Thimphu was seeking funds for the Sakteng wildlife sanctuary.
The Chinese representative objected, claiming that there was a dispute between China and Bhutan over part of the sanctuary spread across 650 sq km.
The Chinese move to make new territorial claims in Bhutan has convinced Thimpu that it should not hang to any hopes that its northern neighbour, 250 times bigger, would be fair.
That if it cedes any ground to appease Beijing, it would only end up fueling its territorial ambitions, the people mentioned above said.
Bhutan is yet to decide on an Indian proposal to build a road through the sanctuary that would sharply reduce the 450 km long distance between Guwahati and Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh by one-third. New Delhi is expected to take up the proposal with Thimphu as part of India’s hard push to border infrastructure.
Source : Hindustan Times
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