NEW DELHI: King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck will make an official visit to India from November 3-10. This will be his sixth visit to India after his coronation. It comes 10 days after Bhutan and China held talks seeking to resolve the border issue and establish diplomatic ties.
The Bhutanese King had earlier visited India in April this year on the invitation of President Draupadi Murmu. Wangchuck will meet PM Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and senior Indian officials during the visit. He will also travel to Maharashtra and Assam. The northeast state shares its border with Bhutan.
“The visit would be an opportunity for India and Bhutan to review the gamut of bilateral cooperation and to advance the exemplary bilateral partnership, across diverse sectors,” said external affairs ministry. India-Bhutan shares a 699-km-long International Border and adjoins states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Sikkim.
Bhutan has time and again reiterated that it stands by India’s security, and will not take any step that will compromise India’s security. However, Bhutan and China have been holding border talks since 1984, and in 2021, they agreed to initiate a three-step measure to resolve the boundary dispute.
India is an important stakeholder in the border dispute between Bhutan and China, given the importance of the trijunction to India’s security. There have been reports suggesting that China has been insisting on swapping territory with Bhutan by offering 495 sq km in the disputed Jakarlung and Pasamlung valleys in the north, with 269 sq km in the west at the Doklam trijunction that will provide it strategic control over Chumbi Valley having implications for India’s security.