India ‘notes’ Bhutan-China MoU to resolve boundary dispute

Sandeep Dikshit

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 14

India has “noted” the signing of the MoU on Thursday between Bhutan and China on the “Three-Step Roadmap for Expediting the Bhutan-China Boundary Negotiations” which may also include discussions on Doklam.

“You are aware that Bhutan and China have been holding boundary negotiations since 1984 just like India,” said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.

Asked if Doklam is among the boundaries being discussed and could be part of resolution package that would give control over it to China, Bagchi said, “For the moment, I will limit myself to these comments.”

The announcement however is not sudden. During the Expert Group Meeting in Kunming in April this year, the two sides had agreed on the “Three-Step Roadmap” that will help expedite the ongoing boundary negotiations.

China-Bhutan boundary talks had traditionally focused on two areas. One is two valleys—Pasamlung and Jakarlung—and the other is Doklam, along the trijunction with India. But around the time of the Galwan Valley incident last year, China had opened a new front by raising objections about Sakteng Sanctuary in Bhutan about which there was no discord earlier.

Bhutan Foreign Minister Tandi Dorji and Chinese Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Wu Jianghao signed the MoU during a virtual signing ceremony. It will be exchanged between the two sides through the diplomatic channels.

“The MoU on the Three-Step Roadmap will provide a fresh impetus to the Boundary Talks. It is expected that the implementation of this Roadmap in a spirit of goodwill, understanding and accommodation will bring the boundary negotiations to a successful conclusion that is acceptable to both sides,” said the Bhutanese government in a statement.

Boundary negotiations between Bhutan and China began in 1984 and the two sides have held 24 rounds of Boundary Talks and ten rounds of meeting at the Expert Group level.

“The negotiations which have been conducted in a spirit of understanding and accommodation have been guided by the 1988 Joint Communique on the Guiding Principles for the Settlement of the Boundary and the 1998 Agreement on the Maintenance of Peace, Tranquility and status quo in the Bhutan-China Border Areas,’’ added the statement from Thimphu.