Relevance: GS Paper II
Why has this article cropped up?
- The Border Roads Organisation, which helps build Bhutanese roads under Project Dantak, when decided in July to make the highway markers – the reflective stickers on railings that guide traffic on Bhutan’s steep mountain roads – in shades of the Indian tricolour, it raised red flags among the Bhutanese.
- Citizens were worried that this was an attempt by India to impose its flag on their countryside.
- This incident is a clear indicator of heightened sensitivities in the Himalayan kingdom.
Third general election in Bhutan
- Bhutan will conduct its third general elections, which will be completed by October-end, marking 10 years of democracy in Bhutan.
- Some of the parties have taken an-India stand advocating self-reliant Bhutan devoid of any Indian interference.
India’s perception in Bhutan
- The UPA government’s decision to cut cooking gas subsidy just before the 2013 elections in Bhutan has often been shown as proof of Indian interference.
- The NDA govt’s actions, indicating a preference for one party (for example, Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League in Bangladesh) or antipathy for another (such as for Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party), have been noted closely in Bhutan.
What should India do in such circumstances?
- India must step lightly and thoughtfully around the upcoming election.
- The government would be best advised to keep high-profile visits at an arms length from the election process.
- The ensuing months may be a useful interlude to revise India’s Bhutan policy and address several issues that have come up in the past few years — for example, the hydropower projects where delays in constructing and commissioning in Bhutan by Indian companies have led to the country’s burgeoning national debt.
- India’s power-surplus status and the advent of other renewable energies like wind and solar power will make it more difficult for Bhutan to ensure that its hydropower sector becomes profitable. And unless India finds ways to help, it will be accused of the same sort of “debt-trapping” that China is accused of today.
- India also needs to focus on policing cross-border trade better. The goods and services tax still hurts Bhutanese exporters, and demonetisation has left lasting scars on the banking system.
- The biggest issue between India and Bhutan will remain how to deal with China. The Doklam crisis has brought home many realities for the Bhutanese establishment.
