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PlainSpeak
Bhutan:
India's Trusted Strategic Friend and Ally in South Asia
by Dr. Subhash Kapila
 In the whole
of South Asia when one surveys the political landscape in terms of
countries which can be said to be genuinely friendly to India and which
are devoid of any political or strategic irritants in relations with
India, only one country stands out. The Kingdom of Bhutan stands out as
India’s trusted friend and ally.
Bhutan is a country of great strategic significance in India’s national
security strategic calculus. Its size may be small but its geo-strategic
significance outweighs its size. Bhutan extends 306 km from East to West
and 145 km from North to South and is nestled in the Eastern Himalayas.
Bhutan is bordered on the East ,South and West by India. China borders
Bhutan in the North and North-West. In terms of external boundaries,
Bhutan has a border of 605 km with India and 470 km with China. And
therein would become obvious the geo-strategic significance of Bhutan,
and its strategic relevance to India.
 Bhutan, therefore, emerges as a crucial buffer state between India and
China in the Eastern Himalayas in the military sense. Western Bhutan
borders the Chumbi Valley of Tibet and therefore guards any possible
Chinese ingress routes in any possible future conflict. The Indian State
of Sikkim , adjoining Western Bhutan, till recently was being disputed
by China. Sikkim hosts sizeable Indian troop deployments as a
consequence A Bhutan friendly to India ensures that India’s defences in
Sikkim are not out-flanked in any Chinese military operation.
Similarly, Eastern Bhutan adjoins the vital Indian Army defences in
Arunachal Pradesh, still wholly claimed by China. Here too a Bhutan
friendly to India ensures that the Indian Army defences in this region
are not outflanked from the West in any Chinese military operation.
In the South a narrow strip of Indian territory separates Bhutan from
Bangladesh which currently not only facilitates Pakistan’s proxy war
against India’s North East but also provides sanctuaries to anti-Indian
insurgent groups. Through this narrow corridor pass India’s crucial
lifelines to its seven North Eastern States, namely a single rail-line
and a single national highway. Bhutan provides a secure northern flank
to this vital corridor in marked contrast to the disruptive attitudes of
Bangladesh to the South of the corridor.
In 2003 Bhutan under the directions of its monarch, King Jigme Singye
Wangchuk, carried out effective military operations to flush out
anti-Indian insurgent groups from its Southern Bhutan thick jungles and
thereby deny them sanctuaries in its territories. This amply illustrates
that Bhutan is India’s trusted friend and ally and mindful of India’s
security interests in marked contrast to other countries in the region.
It also needs to be noted that Bhutan unlike Nepal or Bangladesh has in
its foreign policies not tried to play off China against India. In fact
China resents Bhutan’s strategic proximity to India and keeps generating
boundary disputes with Bhutan and also Chinese military incursions into
Bhutanese territory.
Bhutan has in the United Nations consistently sided with India on
crucial issues. With such a track record, Bhutan deserves India’s
special attention and consideration. In South Asia where India has to
face confrontationist states like Pakistan and Bangladesh and states
with political instability like Sri Lanka and Nepal, it is Bhutan which
breaks this bleak pattern as a stable state under its enlightened
monarchy and a genuine and trusted friend and ally of India.
May 7, 2006
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PlainSpeak
The Week of May 7, 2006
India-Pakistan Must Jointly Combat Terrorism
by Rajinder Puri
Releasing Masood Azhar was a Political Decision
by MH Ahsan
Extinction of Democracies and The Irish Elk by
Gaurang Bhatt, MD
Bhutan: India's Trusted Strategic Friend and
Ally in South Asia by Dr. Subhash Kapila
What is the Solution to the Kashmir Imbroglio
by TA Ramesh
Natural Disaster: A Concern for Security by
VK Joshi
High on Grass by Chitra Balasubramaniam
Look Around You by Naira Yaqoob
An Indian Summer by Dr. Prasenjit Maiti
The Question of Truth and Yogic Practice by
Ashish Nangia
Myths in Jyotish by Rohiniranjan
The Fairy Tale Code by Kelley Bell
Make Travel Fun for your Little One by
Garima Gupta
A Passionate Cry for Human Dignity by V.
Sundaram
Never Victorious, Never Defeated A Book
Review by Amreeta Sen
Bankim's Krishna-Charita : Some Observations
by Major Gen. Shekhar Sen, VSM
VPN : An Introduction by Ruchi
Gupta
The Witty Side by Melvin Durai
O Cancer: I am a Fighter Too by Ravi Pipal
My Mother : A Cup of Wonder by Dhiraj Bhimji
Raniga
Suseela a short story by NS Murty
Divorce a short story by Vikram Karve
Naushad : End of an Era by Ramendra Kumar
Interview with Emraan Hashmi and Shiney Ahuja by
MH Ahsan
To be Single and a Mother by Karina Araos
Plenty but not
Enough by Kavita Devgan
Ayurveda as a Career by Pallavi Bhattacharya
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