Bhutan's External Relations and India

Abstract

NEPAL, Sikkim and Bhutan form a belt of buffer States lying between India and China. The independent existence and internal stability of these small, landlocked and remote States largely depend on the attitude of the great neighbours on their north and south. The British policy towards the Himalayan kingdoms was shaped by the geopolitical 1 factors of the region. The principal objective of the Himalayan policy of the British was indeed the strengthening of India's traditional borders on the north. Under this policy, it was assumed that the main threat to India's northern borders came from Russia. This was partly met by creating a ring of protected and dependent States in the North-West Frontier.2 As far as the Himalayan region was concerned, the Russian thrust was neutralised by the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 which clearly defined the spheres of influence of Britain and Russia in Asia.3 Eventually the Russian threat from the north receded and disappeared altogether. But the more perennial threat to India's north and north-eastern frontiers was from China. China had always held the view that the Himalayan region was within her natural sphere. 4 The Chinese even likened the Union of China, Tibet, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan to the blending of the five colours and compared the position of Tibet, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan to that of the molar teeth side by side in a man's mouth. 5 Whenever China was powerful enough, she was