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Secondly, India’s claim that New Delhi is responsible to assist Bhutan in defending its territory has neither legal basis nor moral sincerity. Bhutan is by no means a treaty ally of India. It signed a Friendship Treaty with India in 1949, in which “Bhutan agrees to be guided by the advice of the Government of India in regard to its external relations.” The Treaty was updated in 2007 and the revised article replaced the request “to be guided” with the request to “cooperate”. It stipulates that the two governments “shall cooperate closely with each other on issues relating to their national interests”. And neither “shall allow the use of its territory for activities harmful to the national security and interest of the other”. Even though Bhutan has agreed to “cooperate”, nothing in the treaty justifies India’s cross border intervention. We all know that Bhutan is a sovereign state, a close and friendly neighbor to both China and India. Of China’s 14 land neighbors, Bhutan is the only one who has no diplomatic ties with China, and one of the two who have not settled land border disputes with China (the other being India). Bhutan has made territory claims conflicting with those of China. Both sides have held 24 rounds of negotiations since 1980s and achieved common understanding on the basics of their borders. However, without India’s endorsement, Bhutan cannot sign a border agreement with China. And without an India endorsed border agreement, Bhutan cannot conclude negotiations on diplomatic relations with China. India, as a founding state of the Non-Aligned Movement, whose core principles include national independence, state sovereignty, and opposition to bloc politics, knows too well that intervention in the name of a third party does not conform to its proclaimed foreign policy. If transgressing each other’s territory to defend a third party were justifiable, how would India respond in case Chinese troops intervene to defend India’s neighbors, at locations where India has territorial disputes with them? In this regard, it is safe to say that India is harming Bhutan’s national interests, and its “cooperation” with Bhutan is only for India’s national interests.
Thirdly, Doklam, where the Indians crossed the border, has been in China’s actual control and administration. Chinese PLA units take regular patrols. Chinese local government builds roads and facilities to support living and economic activities. Chinese herdsmen bring their cattle to the grasslands every summer. And the Bhutanese herdsmen also bring their cattle to the area only with endorsement of Chinese local governments, and by paying “grass tax”. China has every right to build roads, houses and other facilities on its own soil, over which it exercises actual control.
