JOIN USThimphu on Tuesday once again asked China to adhere to the agreements it had with both Bhutan and India, and maintain status quo along the borders.
A day after the standoff between the Indian Army and Chinese People’s Liberation Army at the Doklam Plateau in western Bhutan ended, Thimphu broke its silence and welcomed the disengagement by the two sides.
“Bhutan welcomes the disengagement by the two sides at the face-off site in the Doklam area,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Bhutanese government stated in a press release.
Even after New Delhi and Beijing officially confirmed end of the 72-day long face-off at Doklam, Thimphu kept mum on Monday. It came out with a statement on Tuesday.
“We hope this (the end of the face-off in Doklam) contributes to the maintenance of peace and tranquillity and status quo along the borders of Bhutan, China and India in keeping with the existing agreements between the respective countries,” the Bhutanese government said.
Thimphu has always been claiming the Doklam Plateau as an integral part of Bhutan. Beijing, however, has been contesting the claim of Thimphu.
Bhutan has been claiming that the Chinese PLA’s move to build a road in Doklam Plateau has been in violation of the written agreements it had with China in 1988 and 1998, stating that the two sides agree to maintain peace and tranquillity in their border areas pending a final settlement on the boundary question, and to maintain status quo on the boundary as before March 1959.
Thimphu claimed that the 1988 and 1998 agreements had also stated that the two sides would refrain from taking unilateral action, or use of force, to change the status quo as long as the dispute over China-Bhutan boundary was not settled.