India and Bhutan to sign updated Treaty
Thimphu: A revised and updated India-Bhutan Friendship Treaty will be signed sometime later this year between the governments marking yet another historical milestone in the enduring friendship between the two nations. The Treaty was signed by the two governments in 1949.
A joint press release this week states that the treaty is to be reviewed and updated “with a view to bring the Treaty in the conformity with the expanded nature of our relationship (India-Bhutan).”
“The India-Bhutan Friendship Treaty not only reflects the contemporary nature of our relationship but also provides a foundation for the continued growth of this excellent relationship in the 21st century.”
The new version of the treaty is expected to consolidate the ‘mutually beneficial relationship’ Bhutan and India have shared over the years by way of serving each other’s interest through close cooperation. “The treaty will also enable further intensification of our relations in areas like hydropower cooperation, trade and commerce, and human resource development,” stated the press release.
It also stated that the finalization of the Friendship Treaty was a reflection of “the desire of both the governments to put in place a sound framework for the future growth of Indo-Bhutan relations” following the recent transfer of responsibilities to the fifth King and in the run up to the parliamentary democracy in 2008.
The agreement on the updated text of the treaty was reached during His Majesty, Jigme Singye Wangchuck’s visit to India in July 2006, the visit of the Indian Foreign Secretary, Shri Shivshankar Menon, here in October 2006 and the visit of the Indian External Affairs Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, in December 2006.
The Treaty is expected to be formally signed during His Majesty the King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck’s visit to India later this year.
The Indo-Bhutan relations have emerged as an excellent paradigm of mutual trust, cooperation and partnership between a big power and a small country. It has become an example of perfect bilateral relationship which is more often envied and emulated by the world. This relationship does not come just because of the close geographical proximity of the two countries. Bhutan and India share many common interests and is bound by close cultural, historical, religious and economic ties.
Bhutan’s tryst with India dates back as far as the fourth century. Several Bhutanese epics relate events in which Indian princes and princesses have sought refuge in Bhutan. The epic of Ling Gyesar and Khandu Drowa Zangmo make ample references to Bhutan.
History has it that Bumthang was once ruled by an Assamese leader Sindhu Raja. In 747 A.D. the great saint Padmasambhava is said to have visited Bumthang to make a truce between Sindhu Raja and Noache. On his visit, he preached Buddhism in the country.
The 17th century saw roaring trade between the people of Bhutan and the neighbouring regions of India.
It was not long before Bhutan had political contacts with India. A research study carried out by Karma Ura for Centre of Bhutan Studies sates: “Bhutan’s first contact with India in the realm of political relations was through the British East India Company in 1773. British interference in what Bhutan considered its political right on Cooch Behar shaped relations with the British, and later with independent India.”
Bhutan’s isolation policy and an overwhelming mistrust on the British envoy soured the relations between Bhutan and British India. The failure of the Ashley Eden Mission to Bhutan gave birth to a bitter hostility between the two countries culminating in the Anglo-Bhutan war of 1864-6. The Treaty of Sinchula was then signed by Bhutan under political pressure from the British Government. The treaty was revised in 1910 with the signing of the Treaty of Punakha in 1910.
The signing of the Indo-Bhutan Friendship Treaty in 1949 became the basis of mutual cooperation between the two countries. Later, Jawaharlal Nehru’s state visit to Bhutan in 1958 permanently sealed the bond of India-Bhutan friendship, the event, inevitably becoming the harbinger of modern development in Bhutan.
Source: Bhutan Times