Bhutan: Hope to end border row with China

New Delhi, May 13

Bhutan is on the verge of resolving the border dispute with neighbouring China, its Foreign Minister Tandi Dorji told a TV channel in Dhaka on Saturday.

3-step approach

Last year, we signed the three-step approach to resolve the border (dispute)… So, we hope this can be taken forward in the upcoming meeting. Tandi Dorji, Bhutan Foreign Minister

“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. We hope that it (the dispute) will be resolved very soon,” he told the channel.

“Last year, we signed the three-step approach to resolve the border (dispute)… 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,” Dorji added.

“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,” he said.

Indian troops had a 73-day confrontation with the Chinese troops in 2017 as they felt Beijing was constructing a road in the disputed area of Doklam.

Of China’s 14 land neighbours, 12 have finalised their boundaries. Bhutan and India are the only standouts. Two rounds of recent talks between the Indian and Chinese Foreign Ministers had made no headway on the border dispute. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has repeatedly called the ties with China “abnormal”.