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Bhutan - US Relations

Although Bhutan and the United States have never established formal diplomatic relations, the two countries maintain warm, informal relations via the US Embassy in New Delhi, India, and Bhutan's Mission to the United Nations in New York.

The US Government annually brings several Bhutanese participants to the United States through its International Visitors, Humphrey Fellows, and Fulbright Programs. Bhutan participates in the South Asia Regional Initiative for Energy Integration (SARI/EI), a program sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) that helps countries increase energy security through cross-border trade, clean energy access, and improved energy market practices.. Bhutan receives USAID-supported training on a range of disaster management topics and State Department-supported assistance to implement programs to counter trafficking in persons. Bhutanese officials and military officers have attended courses at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies.

Bhutan and the United States belong to a number of the same international organizations, including the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank.

The US Embassy in New Delhi has consular responsibilities for Bhutan and maintains frequent and friendly communications with the Bhutanese Embassy in New Delhi. A consular officer periodically visits Bhutan to renew passports, provide notarial services, and take applications for Consular Reports of Birth Abroad. Bhutan maintains a consulate general in the United States in New York, NY.

In 2007 the United States has offered to resettle in the U.S. sixty-thousand or more Bhutanese refugees now in camps in Nepal. The US offer to resettle refugees who choose this option was part of efforts by the Core Working Group on Bhutanese Refugees in Nepal to help resolve the plight of ethnic Nepalis expelled from Bhutan. More than one-hundred-thousand of these refugees were living in seven camps in eastern Nepal.

The US offer to resettle tens of thousands of ethnic Nepalis expelled from Bhutan in the 1990s provided hope to some. But Human Rights Watch said the offer has also created tension between those refugees who wish to accept the offer, and those who insist on returning to Bhutan. In 2008 the coincidental synchronization of elections in Bhutan and resettlement of Bhutanese refugees to the United States played into the fears of some refugees, who believed the US was conspiring with Bhutan to keep ethnic Nepalis from repatriating and asserting their rights. These refugees insisted that return to Bhutan was the only acceptable solution and they were intimidating refugees who want to accept the US offer - through beatings, burning huts, and death threats.

US Secretary of State John Kerry stated on December 17, 2015 "On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I extend my best wishes and congratulations to the people of Bhutan as you celebrate the 108th anniversary of your National Day on December 17. The United States attaches great importance to the warm ties between the peoples of our two countries and to our shared commitment to address climate change and other global challenges. Bhutan’s commitment to protecting its natural environment is a gift to future generations that we acknowledge with deep gratitude. We also appreciate Bhutan’s critical contributions to UN peacekeeping missions around the world.

As societies with a shared commitment to democracy and the rule of law, the United States and Bhutan are supporting institutions and values that have brought peace and prosperity to the Indo-Pacific region and the world. I look forward to opportunities in the New Year to deepen the cooperation between our countries. I wish all people of the Kingdom a joyful celebration of their national day and a prosperous year ahead."

Bhutan is open to expanding informal contacts with the United States such as USAID projects and strengthening consular relations in whatever manner the USG thinks best.