China woos Bhutan, to India displeasure

THIMPHU: A peep into a Thimphu toy shop shows stacks of Pokemons, all made in China, a testimony to the quiet overtures Beijing is making in Bhutan at rival India’s expense. China’s annexation of Tibet in 1951 and an unresolved border dispute have long been irritants in ties with Bhutan, and India would prefer they remain estranged. India jumped to Bhutan’s defense last year when Chinese troops started building a road on Doklam, a territory claimed by both China and Bhutan.

The eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation lasted 72 days before the Indian and Chinese armies pulled back. But now Beijing is seeking to mend relations and extend a hand of friendship to the tiny Himalayan kingdom, despite the two having no diplomatic relations. Chinese shipments have shot up in the past decade, with goods from machinery and cement to electricals and toys making Beijing the third largest source of foreign products to heavily importdependent Bhutan.

And stuck between the competing regional powers, Bhutan has been gasping to assert its sovereignty and shrug off decades of heavy dependence on India. Many among Bhutan’s 800,000 population feel India’s embrace is becoming a stranglehold and getting in the way of Thimpu’s ties with other countries. “Within Bhutan, there is a growing demand to diversify and loosen its dependence on India,” University of British Columbia historian Tsering Shakya said.