Indo-Bhutan treaty of 1949 was the most precious treaty in the history of our country which probably saved our sovereignty in the turbulent 20th Century. The story of our country could have well been a different one if our Kings have not signed that treaty with India. The farsightedness of our benevolent Kings and the steadfast support of the Government of India and the People of India has protected our people and country from the political turbulence of the bygone century. Tibet and Sikkim lost their independence because they did not have such protection from other countries that Bhutan uniquely received from India. Under the protection of this treaty, India steadfastly and dedicatedly helped our country by providing economic developmental assistance and by guiding our foreign policies. India has always remained as the greatest ally of our country through thick and thin. They had never betrayed us. In 2006, India wholeheartedly supported our country by renewing the Treaty of 1949 and gave us full authority to undertake our foreign policies on our own because they trusted our King and people. The simple truth is that what we are all today is because of India. Even today, we depend on India for everything. Our economy would not exist if not for India. This is a fact. Although we have a new treaty with India giving us the authority to steer our foreign relations on our own, yet it does not mean that we should not feel the sensitivities of Indian foreign policies while steering our own. At the least, we should consult with Government of India when expanding our relations with other countries. The geo-politics in the sub-continent has become frosty in the last few decades because of the growing interest of the northern superpower in this region. India has lost many traditional allies. They will never expect any effort from Bhutan to drift away from them because they have nurtured and groomed us for more than half a century. That is why a slight hint of any misstep from us would be a cause for great betrayal for the Government of India. This is what has happened when our democratically elected former Prime Minister, Jigmi Y Thinley met with the Premier of China in 2012 in Brazil. In the 21st Century, China is becoming a superpower in the world and relation with the northern giant is necessary for the betterment of the relationships in the sub-continent. However, it is very important to firstly convince India that Bhutan-China goodwill friendship is in the interest of India too. Otherwise, our country cannot afford to lose our traditional ally, whatsoever. That handshake between our PM and Premier of China could be a simple greeting between the leaders of the two free countries but it has shaken the trust between our country and India as it was unexpected from a faithful ally. It was shocking news to the Government of India as reported in Times of India recently. The anger of the Government of India was expressed through altering policies abruptly though the official pronouncement of their disappointment has not been made public. Some of the subtle policy changes made by the India because of the blunder of the former DPT government are as follows: 1 - Indian ambassador to Bhutan was replaced after the above event for his failure to not sensing the above developments in accordance to the report by the Times of India. 2 - During Rupee crisis, India did not even bother to listen to the woes of the former DPT government when they sent their high level delegation to Delhi to seek for assistance. Instead, India sent back the Bhutanese delegation in the pretext of lack of sufficient preparation for the cause of the rupees problem. Let alone think of sending back a high level Bhutanese delegation, India used to always treat very well even low level officials from Bhutan. 3 - India has always been proactive in helping Bhutan in times of troubles but they did not bother to help us during rupee problems until our HM visited India as the Guest of Honour during the Republic day celebration in January. Only then India released Rs. 4 billion. 4 - High level delegation of India led by their foreign secretary visited Bhutan only after the dissolution of the DPT government. Foreign diplomacy is very subtle and sensitive and it sends a critical message that they would not want to deal with the government that betrayed their everlasting trust. 5 - Abrupt change in the immigration policy towards the special travel document holders of Bhutan. Now Bhutanese with such special permit are not allowed to transit through India without proper official passport document. 6 - India now wants to conduct investigation on the escalation of the hydro-project costs though the revised budget for the ongoing Punatsangchhu projects, which are all done by Indian companies. They know that Bhutan does not have any chance to fudge the numbers, yet they appear to be suspicious of diverting these fund to other socio-economic developmental projects. 7 - Excise duty refund was due to be received in March or April of this year but India only released that amount on 30th June. In addition, Rs 4 to 5 billion of the 10th Plan have not been released by India, though now the 10th plan is officially over. When one receives rupee assistance or grant from India, it is the wish of the Indian government and it is our responsibility to ensure as much as the money given to us be used to buy things from India. Any donor country will have that policy. By any chance if we buy Chinese buses when there are equally comfortable Indian buses available, it is morally wrong to do such business with other’s money. Times of India have reported about this issue. The complexities and sensitivities of Indo-China relationship is subtle and therefore we have to always be aware of it. 8 - Starting from the first five-year plans to the 10th FY Plan of Bhutan, India was the biggest donor and supporter of our economic developmental plans. Thanks to the people of India and the Government of India that we are enjoying peace and good livelihood today. Normally, FY plans would be all ready in the last year of the last plan period. Including monetary assistance especially from India would be completely guaranteed. 11th Plan has begun but the Indian government has not even committed 1 rupee so far. This is a great concern for all of us. Why would India do this to us? There is only one reason. Former DPT government has unilaterally divulged away from traditional foreign relation route. 9 - India provides energy subsidies to low income Indian households to help them meet their basic needs of livelihood. That is why LPG cylinders and kerosene are sold at a subsidized price to the poor people. However, this generosity has led to black market business causing billions of rupee revenue loss for India. In response, India wanted to gradually phase out the energy subsidy program without adversely affecting the poor people. The new energy subsidy program is done using Unique Identification Number (known as Aadhar number), whereby the money is directly transferred to the account holder of the recipient using this number. This program is called “Direct benefit transfer for LPG”. So the poor people of India still receive this subsidy. Because of the generosity of India, they were providing energy subsidies to Bhutan too. Only last year India reassured that this subsidy will continue for Bhutan. That is how we had all been paying less for the LPG cylinders until a few days ago. Now the LPG prices have doubled for Bhutan which indicates that energy subsidy for Bhutan has been discontinued abruptly without any warning. This is not a gradual process of removing energy subsidies. Such action deems a careful analysis because India would never do such things to Bhutan if we have not hurt them badly. Somewhere we have failed to abide by the principles of our friendship that was nurtured for almost century long. The only reason is the above mentioned unfortunate event. I cannot remember anything worse than that would cause India to punish us in this manner. We are already suffering from lack of Rupees. This removal of energy subsidy will only worsen the rupee problem. The bottom line is that India has lost faith in the former DPT government. Indian still love us and they will still be very much willing to help us. It is in the national interest of India to support Bhutan always. I have seen Indians debating in their parliament about Bhutan so passionately and almost all of them support assistance package to Bhutan relentlessly. It depends on how we can rebuild the lost trust again. It is difficult to rebuild our friendship to former glory if DPT comes to power again because Indians have lost faith in the leadership of the DPT!!
Posted on: Wed, 03 Jul 2013 03:38:45 +0000
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