China, Bhutan

It refused to attend the only major BRI forum organised in Beijing in May 2017. Other than India, Bhutan is the only country with which China currently has a land border dispute.

China and Bhutan have held 24 rounds of talks – the last one in Beijing in 2016 – to resolve the bilateral boundary dispute. The 25th round of border talks slated for 2017 is said to have been cancelled because of the Doklam military standoff and is expected to be held this year.

China’s state media routinely blames India for Beijing’s lack of diplomatic ties with Thimpu.

Kong told the leadership in Thimpu that China will continue to work towards resolving the border question with Bhutan.

“The two sides should continue to push forward the border negotiations, abide by the principled consensus reached, jointly safeguard peace and tranquillity in the border areas, and create positive conditions for the final settlement of the border issue,” said an MFA statement in Chinese published on the ministry’s website. “China attaches great importance to the traditional friendly relations with Bhutan and will respect Bhutan’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity as always, respect Bhutan’s political system and development path chosen according to its own national conditions, and respect Bhutan’s independent foreign policy of peace... China welcomes Bhutan’s active participation in the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ and sharing China’s development dividend,” the statement added.

The Chinese MFA statement quoted the Bhutanese side as saying “…although the diplomatic relations between the two countries have not been established, the traditional friendship between the two countries is a model for large and small countries”. “Bhutan firmly adheres to the One China policy and is committed to deepening exchanges and cooperation with China. It is willing to maintain communication with China on bilateral relations and border issues,” the statement said, quoting Bhutanese officials, adding that Thimpu “admires” China’s development and the BRI.

There was no response from India’s external affairs ministry, but an official who tracks developments in the matter said: “We don’t comment on other country’s bilateral engagements. And our views on One Road One Belt initiative is well known and are repeatedly articulated.”

India’s stated position on the initiative is that the “connectivity initiatives must be based on universally recognised international norms, good governance, rule of law, openness and transparency