India, China eye strategic areas bordering ‘last barrier’ Bhutan

NEW DELHI: Squeezed between giant arch-rivals India and China, the landlocked mountain kingdom of Bhutan was long isolated by icy Himalayan peaks.

But as Bhutan readies to elect a new parliament in Thimphu on January 9, China and India are watching the contest with keen interest as they eye strategic contested border zones, analysts warn.

A “cooperation agreement” inked between Bhutan and China in October after talks over their disputed northern frontier sparked concern in India, which has long regarded Bhutan as a buffer state firmly under its orbit.

Bhutan is “one of the last barriers” in China´s bid to exert influence in South Asia, said Harsh V. Pant, an international relations professor at King´s College London told AFP.

India is determined not to let China extend its influence further across what New Delhi sees as its natural sphere of influence, wary after a swathe of muscular trade deals and loans by Beijing, including with Bangladesh, Nepal, the Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Thimphu and Beijing do not have formal diplomatic relations. India, however, effectively oversaw Bhutan´s foreign policy until 2007.

The relationship was “in exchange for free-trade and security arrangements”, Britain´s Chatham House think tank wrote in a December report.

The report included satellite photographs it said showed an “unsanctioned programme of settlement construction” by China in Bhutan´s northern frontier region, which could “become permanent Chinese territory” pending the outcome of a border deal.