Opinion PM Modi’s visit: Delhi-Thimpu ties can combat the China chill

A common challenge for smaller countries in India’s neighbourhood is navigating the rise of China — a power with the intent and the means to assert its dominance. Beijing has leveraged loans, connectivity projects, infrastructure investment and defence cooperation to expand its influence across South Asia. Recall how Sri Lanka in 2017 had to give up the Hambantota Port in the face of what experts refer to as China’s debt trap diplomacy. Bhutan faces its own version of this challenge. It shares a long and disputed border with China, with which it has no formal diplomatic ties. China has frequently employed a carrot-and-stick strategy, offering aid on the one hand while constructing settlements and infrastructure inside Bhutanese territory on the other. In the backdrop of these challenges, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Bhutan highlights the strengths of its relationship with India, amid shifting regional dynamics.

Prime Minister Modi and King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck signed several MoUs covering renewable energy, health and medicine. New Delhi reaffirmed its support for Bhutan’s 13th Five-Year Plan and its Economic Stimulus Programme. PM Modi also attended the 70th birthday celebrations of Jigme Singye Wangchuck — the father of the current king — who, during his more than three decades on the throne, interacted with as many as 12 Indian prime ministers.

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Bhutan remains a critical regional partner for India in infrastructure, trade, energy and security. The Doklam plateau, located at the tri-junction of the countries — and the site of the 2017 India-China standoff — continues to be a strategic flashpoint. Among other concerns, any China-Bhutan land swap at Doklam poses a potential threat to India’s Siliguri Corridor. Thimphu and New Delhi must therefore ensure that a boundary settlement with Beijing is peaceful and compromises neither the former’s sovereignty nor the latter’s security interests. India’s respect for Bhutan’s freedom to chart its own course, reaffirmed in the 2007 Friendship Treaty, which replaced the earlier provision requiring New Delhi to “guide” Thimphu in foreign affairs, remains the cornerstone of this steadfast partnership in an increasingly competitive neighbourhood.