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Bhutan - Foreign Relations

Bhutan became a member of the United Nations in 1971. Bhutan does not have diplomatic relations with any of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, including the United States. Bhutan's policy is to move carefully in expanding formal diplomatic relations with the P-5 of the UN Security Council, because of "demarcation" problems with China.

Historically, Bhutan's foreign policies were greatly influenced by Tibet. Bhutan acknowledged Tibet's influence over it until 1860 and continued to pay a nominal tribute to Tibet until the mid- 1940s, although not necessarily on a friendly basis. Despite religious and cultural affinities, most of Bhutan's elite were refugees who had fled Tibet for religious reasons over the centuries. From 1865 to 1947, Britain guided Bhutan's foreign affairs. Thereafter Bhutan's foreign relations until the early 1970s were under the guidance of India, with which Bhutan had had official diplomatic relations from 1949.

Bhutan began to develop its foreign relations by joining the Colombo Plan in 1962 and the World Postal Union in 1969. It joined the United Nations on 21st September 1971, sponsored by India and co-sponsored by Britain. In 1981 Bhutan joined the IMF and World Bank, and in 1982 became a member of UNESCO and the World Health Organisation. Bhutan also increased representation at international conferences and is an active member of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC).

A shortage of diplomatic officials limited Thimphu's missions in New York and Geneva (established in 1985) and meant that the nation could only staff embassies in New Delhi, Dhaka, and Kuwait. Bhutan had only one employee, a computer programmer, at the SAARC headquarters in Kathmandu in late 1990. Only India and Bangladesh had representatives in Thimphu in 1991; other nations generally gave dual accreditation to their ambassadors in New Delhi to enable them to represent their countries' interests in Thimphu.

Bhutan became a member of the United Nations in 1971. Bhutan does not have diplomatic relations with any of the permanent members of the UN Security Council. Bhutan was elected to the UN Commission on Human Rights in 2003 and served until 2006.

Bhutan enjoys diplomatic relations with seven European nations, which form The "Friends of Bhutan" group, together with Japan. These countries are Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Finland, and Austria. Also known as donor nations, they contribute generously to Bhutanese development and social programs. Bhutan also has diplomatic relations with South Korea, Canada, Australia, Kuwait, Thailand, Bahrain, Bangladesh, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.

China and Bhutan have two border disputes Kula Kangri Mountain and parts of Haa district of Bhutan, both controlled by China and claimed by Bhutan. The ideal solution might be for China to give to Bhutan whatever the Indian map shows as being Bhutanese land along the Sino Bhutan boundary. And India should also give to Bhutan whatever land the Chinese map shows as Bhutanese land along the Indo Bhutan boundary.

Bhutan and China do not have diplomatic relations, although they have engaged in 19 rounds of high-level talks regarding a border dispute over three Chinese-built roads which the Bhutanese Government alleges encroach on its territory. Although the official trade between the countries is minimal, the Chinese Government announced that trade had increased by 3,000% from 2006 to 2007. The Bhutanese Foreign Minister visited China in early 1999 and the two countries signed an agreement committing them to a relationship of 'peace and tranquillity', but without formal diplomatic relations. Friendly border negotiations with China have taken place over twenty years and the border was now almost entirely agreed.

Bhutan and Nepal established diplomatic relations in 1983. The major problem facing the bilateral relationship between Bhutan and Nepal was the instability in Nepal. The constant changes in Nepal's government made it difficult for Bhutan to negotiate. Beginning in 1988, Bhutan's government expelled large numbers of ethnic Nepalese through enforcement of new citizenship laws. In response to this perceived repression, ethnic Nepalese protested, sometimes violently, leading to a government crackdown and the closure of local Nepalese schools, clinics, and development programs. In 1991, ethnic Nepalese began to leave southern areas of the country in large numbers and to take refuge in Nepal.

By 2006, over 100,000 ethnic Nepalese who were expelled from Bhutan were encamped in seven United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) camps in southeastern Nepal. The international community, through a Core Group on Bhutanese Refugees (consisting of the US, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and New Zealand), has begun discussing a comprehensive solution to the refugee problem that would likely include resettlement of a large number of refugees to third countries.

By 2010 Bhutan and Nepal were still negotiating a solution to a protracted refugee situation, in which over 85,000 refugees reside in seven UNHCR camps in Nepal. Most of the refugees claim Bhutanese citizenship, while Bhutan alleges that they are non-nationals or "voluntary emigrants," who forfeited their citizenship rights. In 2003, a joint Bhutan-Nepal verification team categorized refugees from one camp into four groups, but progress remains stalled. Out of these refugee camps have arisen several insurgent groups, such as the Bhutan Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist), the Bhutan Tiger Force, and the United Revolutionary Front of Bhutan. Bhutanese security forces blamed these groups for a series of bombings targeting the country in the lead-up to the 2008 parliamentary elections.

H.e. Jigmi Y. Thinley, Prime Minister Of The Kingdom Of Bhutan, at the 63rd Session Of The General Assembly of the United Nations, 26 September 2008 stated: "Natural disasters, food, fuel and financial crises, deepening (chronic) pove1ty, failing states, dwindling water resource, diseases, human trafficking and even maritime lawlessness afflict our society.... Bhutan does not look at these developments as separate, disconnected events. Rather, we see them as directly interconnected symptoms of a larger and deeper malaise that threatens our collective wellbeing and survival. Responding to each of the challenges separately will most probably be useful in the short run, but piece­meal efforts will not lead to permanent solutions. We need to treat the disease beyond the symptoms. And the disease, we believe, has to do with our way of life that is just not rational and sustainable.

" ... all these crises are the outcomes of a way of life that is diclated by the powerful ethics of consumerism in a world of finite resources. Our life is all about fear of not having enough. about wanting more and doing better than our dear neighbour and friend. We spend and consume beyond our means and those of generations unborn bringing upon ourselves the kind of crises that were inevitable..... the climate is changing. Striking unpredictably, unseasonably and with greater fury and frequency, natural disasters such as drought, cyclones, hurricanes, floods and land slides are destroying life, property and crops. Weather patterns have changed and continue to change with far more profound implications for our civilization than we can fathom..... As human beings, should we not search for and be driven by higher values? Do we not have needs beyond the material, beyond that of the body alone? "

A Bhutan is a Buddhist kingdom with a Buddhist foreign policy.