WEEKLY SUMMARY SPECIAL REPORT BHUTAN ENTERS THE WORLD ARENA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85T00875R001500030034-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 6, 2011
• Sequence Number: 34
• Publication Date: October 8, 1971
• Content Type: REPORT

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DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
Secret
VEEKLY SUMMARY
Special Report
Bhutan Enters the World Arena
OS Fill CUT
RETURN TO 11:-.rui
Secret
N2 667
8 October 1971
No. 0391/71A
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On 21 September .1971, the Year of the Iron Hog in Bhutan, the country was elected
to membership in the UN, This secluded Hinulayan kingdom, one of the world's smallest
independent states, enters the international arena backed by a population of one in
who live in a feudal manner not much dii ferent than was the case in the 17th century Mien
Bhutan first became a distinct political entity. Since the mid-1960s, a small group of
Bhutanese elite has aspired to UN membership in order to ensure in recognition
of Bhutan's sovereignty and to hasten development of its backward economy.
The country, almost totally dependent on India for economic and military assistance,
IS required by treaty to be "guided" by Indian advice in foreign at fairs, New Delhi's interest
in Bhutan rests heavily on the fact that Bhutan borders on the stmtegicAy sensitive Indian
corridor that leads to isolated northeast India, New Delhi energetically endorsed the
Bhutanese bid for a UN seat, and Bhutan is expected to vote with India on most iSSUCS.
Peking appears content to see Bhutan develop fur ther as a viable buffer state and his not
pressed ear her territorial claims.
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A Self-sufficient Kingdom
The landlocked Himalayan kingdom, about
19,000 square miles, is nearly the size of Vermont
and New Hampshire combined. The majority of
its population are Bhotias?Buddhists of Tibetan
extraction. This group, which shares the basic
features of Tibetan culture. dominates the govern-
ment and the clergy. People of Nepalese origin
and a number of small tribal groups are distinct
minorities on the fringe of Bhutanese society.
Much of the population lives in almost inacces-
sible valleys largely untouched by the laws and
activities of the government.
Life is primitive, but, compared to much of
the rest of Asia, living standards are relatively
good. The Bhutanese are self-sufficient, meeting
their basic needs by farming, livestock raising,
cottage industries, and trade. The country has a
good economic potential, but its vast forests have
scarcely even been explored, and its mineral re-
sources have not been tapped. Less than five
percent of the population is literate, and basic
elementary education is just beginning in a lim-
ited number of goverrment schools. Some 500
Bhutanese attend secondary schools in India, but
probably no more than a few hundred Bhutanese
have ever traveled beyond India's borders. The
kingdom's international affiliations, prior to ad-
mission to the UN, were confined to membership
in the Colombo Plan and the International Postal
Union.
Constitutional Monarchy in the iUakiisg
The ruler of Bhutan is 43-year-old Jigme
Dorji Wangchuk. The King (whose official title is
Druk Gyalpo or Dragon King) succeeded to the
throne in 1952, about 35 years after his grand-
father centralized power in the Wangchuk family
and becanie the first monarch of all Bhutan. The
family is still in full control. There is no evidence
of a serious challenge to the King's pre-eminence
in both secular and religious affairs, but Bhuta-
nese history is checkered with power struggles
between prominent families. The anticipated
? It
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increase in developmental efforts could upset
long-standing balances, and there has already been
some evidence of dissension between tradition-
alists, particularly within the monasteries, and
more progressive elements favoring moderniza-
tion. The King :In d Queen have lived apart since
the mid-1960s when members of her influential
family, the Dorjis, were involved in an unsuccess-
ful conspiracy for enhanced power at the King's
expense. The King's half-brother has since be?
come his chief adviser, a post previously held by a
Dorji.
At present, political power is centralized in
the monarchy and a small circle of court officials
drawn from the monasteries and landed elite. The
few reports emerging from Bhutan indicate that a
rudimentary system of repiesentative government
is developing at a slow pace. In ecent years, the
King has taken steps to make the government
more democratic, and his proclaimed goal is the
establishment of a constitutional monarchy. A
150-member legislature (the Tshogdu or National
Assembly), consisting of elected village headmen
and Buddhist lamas as well as royal appointees,
has functioned since the mid-1950s. In 1968 the
King set up a cabinet that now numbers five. The
ministers belong to a larger Royal Advisory Coun-
cil that makes recommendations to the King on
economic and administrative matters. The King
has introduced a number of reforms, including
Bhutan's first law code. More recently, he set up a
high court with the authority to hear appeals
against judgments of district courts and adminis-
trators. A potentially far-reaching innovation was
added in 1969 when the King decided that his
continuation should depend on his getting a two-
thirds majority in a vote to be taken every three
years in the National Assembly. Such a vote of
confidence was taken last May, and the King won
133 of the 137 votes cast. There are no political
parties, but the King has not foreclosed the pos-
sibility of their eventual creation.
The King has not recently been incapaci-
tated due to serious illness, as he was several times
in the last decade, but his health is not considered
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King Wangcliak
Opposite Aye
Top: NIonks blowing ceremonial trumpets
Center: Market place in Cbortens
Bottom: Women pounding grain
8 October 1971
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Kingdom of BHUTAN
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robust. On his death, or in the highly unlikely
event he were to be voted out of office, the
throne would pass to the crown prince, who will
be 16 in November. A four-man regency council
will actually rule until the heir reaches his 21st
birthday. The crown prince, who received his
secondary education in England and is now being
tutored in Bhutan, already has had a far more
extensive exposure to the outside world than has
his father.
The Ovcial Indo-Bhutanese Relationship
India is the most im7.,rtant factor in Bhu-
tan's development. New E i inherited Britain's
relationship with the kingdom after Indian inde-
pendence in 1947, and in 1949 a treaty of friend-
ship marked India's formal succession to the role
played by Britain. The treaty recognizes Bhutan's
sovereignty but requires that the country "be
guided by the advice" of India in its external
relations. The two countries apparently have
reached an accord on the imprecise stipulation
regardina foreign ffairs, and neither claims a de-
sire for treaty revision. Domestic matters remain
in Bhutan's own hands.
In the late 1960s, the Indian Government
committed itself to sponsor Bhutan for member-
ship in the UN at some unspecified date. Al-
though progress toward this end probably pro-
ceeded faster than New Delhi anticipated, the
Indians responded to Bhutanese pressure with
enthusiasm and good faith. The Indian UN dele-
gation assisted Bhutanese officials who attended
recent UN General Assembly sessions as unofficial
observers, provided them with training in diplo-
macy, and undertook a successful lobbying effort
last winter to win Security Council approval for
the Bhutanese bid.
The Indians will underwrite most of the cost
of maintaining a three-man Rhotanese delegation
in New York and will, in effect, groom the dele-
gates for their new role. In return, Bhutan can be
expected to vote with India and the Afro-Asian
group on most issues. Both are also very much
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interested in the international recognition ac-
corded Bhutan, establishing its separate identity.
This is significant because the Bhutanese-Tibetan
border is undemarcated; indeed, there is no evi-
dence of any treaty that comprehensively defines
the more than 200-mile border. Moreover, Bhutan
borders on the strategically sensitive Indian cor-
ridor that lead3 to the isolated northeast region.
Indo-Bhutanese relations have become more
extensive in concert with Bhutan's growing ability
to absorb additional help, particularly in terms of
economic aid and training. The kingdom is almost
totally dependent on India for financing develop-
mental programs. Bhutan's annual revenue, de-
rived largely from taxes on land and its produce,
amounts to only slightly over $1 million. Its for-
eign exchange earnings total less than $100,000,
mostly from the sale of postage stamps to col-
lectors. New Delhi plans to contribute about $47
million to Bhutan's third Five-Year Plan
(1971-76), a substantial increase over previous
help. In addition, India is making sizdble contri-
butions for road construction and is responsible
for building the first roads usable by four-wheel-
drive vehicles. These join major settlements and
connect the capital, Thimphu, with the Indian
border.
Hundreds of Indian technicians and advisers
are assigned to Bhutan to work on numerous
development projects. They are gradually being
replaced as more Bhutanese acquire the necessary
skills. The pervasive Indian presence arouses re-
sentment among some Bhutanese officials, but
the small number of trained Bhutanese makes the
situation unavoidable.
The It:do-Bhutanese Defense Arrangement
Indian involvement in Bhutan's defense or-
ganization is even more pronounced. In the late
1950s and early 1960s, when Peking published
maps claiming more than 300 square miles of
northeastern Bhutan and spoke of "liberating"
Bhutan and other Himalayan frontier states
"wrongfully held by imperialist India," New
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Delhi began strengthening Bhutan's defenses.
Several months before the outbreak of Sino-
Indian hostilities in October 1962, New Delhi
established a military mission in Bhutan to train
and reorganize Bhutan's defense forces. Now, of-
ficers in the 6,000-man army receive basic train-
ing under Indian direction at the military acad-
emy at Ha Dzong in western Bhutan, and some
officers are sent for additional training to military
institutions in India. In addition to their training
function, Indian officers serve with Bhutanese
field units, and India regularly rotates Indian
Army units through Bhutan, sometimes conduct-
ing joint exercises with the Bhutanese. \
/Indian
troops are believed still to man watch posts on
the Tibetan-Bhutanese border, with special inter-
est focused on the five strategic passes serving as
potential invasion crossing points for an army
moving from Tibet into India. 25X1
Both the Bhutanese and Indians recognize
that Bhutan could not by itself withstand Chinese
z ?. ; - incursions. Both seem to believe a close defense
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relationship enhances Bhutan's security. \
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\there has been no
recent indication ot Chinese pressures on Bhu-
tan's borders. It is likely that Chinese troops and
Tibetan graziers occasionally wander across the
open border by mistake. 25X1
There lias been, as far as is known, no recent
official contact between Bhutan and Communist
China. Sino-Bhutanese relations deteriorated fol-
lowing the Tibetan uprising in 1959 and the with-
drawal of the Bhutanese representative in Lhasa.
There are no formal ties between the two nor any
indication that the Bhutanese are planning to seek
resumption of special political or trade relations
with Tibet. Chinese troops continue to palrol the
border region, but Peking has not pressed its
former boundary claims. A Bhutanese official re-
cently declared that in 1970 the Chinese pub-
lished maps of the border that seern^d to indicate
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Peking's acceptance of 'Bhutan's version of the
border.
Bhutan Sends Out First Diplomats
In preparation for its debut at the UN, Bhu-
tan established its first permanent mission in
India last May. The 48-year-old Pema Wangchuk,
who had served as an assistant to the King and
more recently as a liaison officer in the Indian
road-building effort, was named Bhutan's "special
representative" in India. In reciprocation, the
ranking Indian official in Bhutan, B. D. Das, was
accorded a similar title.
For the near future, Bhutan does not plan to
establish any missions in addition to its posts in
New Delhi and New York. Designated as its UN
permanent representative is 43-year-old Sangey
Penjore, minister of communications and a dis-
tant relative of the King. He has been in govern-
ment administration since 1945 and was intri-
cately involved in the steps leading to UN
membership. In his brief contacts with US offi-
cials, Penjore has appeared friendly and intelli-
gent. He is assisted by an Indian official, A. M.
Ram, who is on loan from the Indian Foreign
Ministry and had spent the previous three years as
an adviser in Bhutan. The second secretary and
head of chancery is Kingley Wangdi. Wangdi has
dealt with foreign affairs in the National Assem-
bly and served as observer at UN General Assem-
bly sessions during the last three years.
The US has no plans at present to open a
post in Thimphu and will conduct its relations
through the Bhutanese missions in New York and
New Delhi. The US had already recognized Bhu-
tan as a sovereign independent state.
The top echelon of Bhutanese officialdom is
relatively realistic about Bhutan's shortcomings in
terms of finances and lack of educated man-
power. Nevertheless, they decided to push for
early full UN membership instead of limiting their
participation to the UN's specialized agencies.
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King with Indian President Gin i and wife
Opposite Page
Top: Indian Army border post
Center: Troops march before King's residence
? Bottom: King watches militia training
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Furthermore, full membership was the only op-
tion open as the UN has not yet devised a form of
associate membership for "micro-states," such as
Bhutan.
There is a realization in Bhutan of the dan-
ger of proceeding too fast in opening the coun-
try's doors to the world. The King has taken
specific measures to ptiserve Bhutan's heritage;
for example, by insisting on the wearing of tradi-
tional national dress and by the observance of
ancient cultural traditions. Tourism may eventu-
ally bring much needed foreign exchange, but
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today the country is accessible only to invited
guests./
\ As Bhutan begins to flex its muscles, it
probably will seek to assume added responsi-
bilities in the field of foreign affairs. For the near
future, however, the Indians and the Bhutanese
will continue their cordial political, economic,
and military relationship, especially their mutual
obligations in the reams of defense and foreign
aft a is.
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Thunderbolt and Dragon
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