2 articles, one each on Bhutan's boundaries with India and with 
China, from Bhutan's daily English-language "Kuensel" (Enlightenment"):

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http://www.kuenselonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7126

Sun Jun 25, 2006 7:26 am (PST)

Bhutan-India border reaches last stage of demarcation
Posted on Saturday, June 24, 2006, @ 04:58:46 EDT


National Assembly: 24 June 2006- The demarcation of Bhutan's southern 
boundary, with India, was nearly completed, according to the 
Secretary for International Boundaries, Dasho Pema Wangchuk, who was 
responding to queries raised by the chimis who were following up on 
the discussions of previous Assembly sessions.

The Sarpang chimi, T.P Humagai, said that the people knew that the 
two governments had held talks several times but wanted to know the 
results and what was actually happening. It was important that the 
boundary was finalised before the adoption of the Constitution.

The Samtse chimi, Sangay Khandu, reminded the members that the issue 
had been discussed in detail during the 83rd and the 84th sessions 
and His Majesty the King had advised that the work should be 
completed by the end of 2006.

Briefing the National Assembly members the Secretary explained that 
Bhutan's southern boundary had been demarcated since 1963, under the 
supervision of the Commissioner for southern Bhutan. By 1971, 
boundary demarcations as well as boundary pillars were completed and 
endorsed by the two governments in October, 1971.

There were some problems in the Phuentsholing and Jaigaon area in 
2001 because many boundary pillars were found missing. The two 
governments had decided that the boundary pillars should be re-constructed.

The Secretary said that the entire boundary between Bhutan and India 
was covered by 62 strip maps. A total of 47 boundary strip maps had 
been signed between the two countries and only 15 remained in 2005. A 
meeting of the two governments in December, 2005, concluded with the 
signing seven more strips, five covering the Bhutan-Arunachal Pradesh 
sector and two falling in the Bhutan-Assam sector. "We are working 
with India to complete the last eight strips by 2006," said Dasho 
Pema Wangchuk.

It was planned that seven main pillars and 39 subsidiary pillars 
would be constructed in the Bhutan and Sikkim sector. With work 
started in January, 2006, four main pillars and 28 subsidiary pillars 
were now constructed along the Bhutan-Sikkim border.

Along the Nichu-Jaldaka river segment of the Bhutan-West Bengal 
border it was planned that 12 main pillars and 128 subsidiary/minor 
pillars would be constructed and, since January, 2006, five main 
pillars and 64 subsidiary pillars were constructed.

The Bhutan-Assam sector had 168 main pillars and 801 subsidiary 
pillars. The joint team had confirmed that 140 main pillars and 600 
subsidiary pillars were completed.

On the Bhutan-Arunachal Pradesh sector the meeting had decided to 
take up maintenance work for 104 boundary pillars, starting from 
June, 2006. The secretary said that, once the maintenance of the 
boundary pillars was over, the boundary strip maps and the completed 
pillars were being handed over to the local authorities of both sides 
for maintenance were being handed over to the local authorities in a 
gradual process.

In consultation with the Indian government, we have plans to complete 
the whole exercise by November this year," he said. "Work in Assam 
and Arunachal Pradesh is in progress while West Bengal and Sikkim has 
been halted for now because of the monsoon season."

The Speaker of the National Assembly noted that, as reported by the 
Secretary for International Boundaries, seven out of 15 pillars 
reported during the 83rd session had been erected and that the 
remaining eight pillars would be erected this year. Since it was 
important that all the work be completed before the introduction of 
the Constitution, the Assembly resolved that the survey department 
must complete the work by 2006-07.

By Kinley Y Dorji
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http://www.kuenselonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7125

Bhutan-China boundary must be finalised
Posted on Saturday, June 24, 2006, @ 04:47:38 EDT

National Assembly: 24 June 2006- With growing concerns raised by the 
people the 85th session of the National Assembly resolved that the 
government should continue the ongoing Bhutan-China boundary 
discussions and come to an agreement as soon as possible.

The issue was raised by the Dagana chimi, Karma Samdrup, who said 
that the people were genuinely concerned about the boundary issue 
because they felt that it was directly related to the security of the 
country. "A clear boundary is like a wall protecting the precious 
gem," he said. "We learnt from the militant problem in the south 
that, if we do not act in time, the problem will only deteriorate."

The Samdrup Jongkhar chimi, Yonten Thinley, said more and more people 
believed that the security and independence of the country was at 
stake. "Following the 83rd and 84th sessions, when we had to explain 
that the Chinese had already constructed six roads to our northern 
border, some of them even crossing the border, the people were 
shocked," he said. "They feel that, for a small country, losing even 
a small piece of land would be a big loss. We are being pressed to do 
something and must convey this to the government most urgently."

The Samste chimi, Sangay Khandu, reminded the National Assembly that 
the boundary discussions had been going on for the past 22 years. "We 
would like to know when the government expects to reach an 
agreement," he said, adding that a clear solution must be found 
before the political changes in 2008.

The Haa chimi reminded the National Assembly that the people had 
raised the issue in the 83rd Assembly session because they were 
alarmed when they found out that the Chinese were building roads to 
the northern border. He said that there were major problems with 
three of the six roads because they were on Bhutanese territory.

One road was at Shakhatoe, where the road had penetrated quite deeply 
inside Bhutanese soil. He explained that the people of Haa had always 
used Shakhatoe as a grazing area for their yaks. Another area of 
concern was in Dolepchen where the Chinese started constructing roads 
last year.

The Secretary for International Boundaries, Dasho Pema Wangchuk, 
informed the National Assembly that the concerns expressed by the 
Bhutanese people had already been conveyed to the Chinese side during 
the second Expert Group Meeting held in July, 2005, in Thimphu. He 
said that the Chinese officials had responded by saying that the 
Bhutanese were over-reacting to the road constructions that were 
being carried out for the economic development of the western part of 
China, including Tibet. The Chinese had said that the roads would not 
affect Bhutan in any way and that "the work had been stopped in view 
of Bhutan's concerns and friendly relations between the two countries."

Dasho Pema Wangchuk informed the Assembly that further road 
construction work had not been observed after that, apart from 
maintenance and clearance activities on the roads that had been 
already constructed. He added that the next round of talks - the 18th 
round - was scheduled to be held in Beijing this year and the 
Bhutanese officials were waiting for confirmation from the Chinese government.

The Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, Zhamling Dorji, pointed out that 
the recorded land area of Bhutan was smaller than in the past. "The 
past records show that Bhutan had an area more than 46,000 square 
kilometers but the present figure has been decreased to a little more 
than 38,000 square kilometers," he said. "This is a difference of 
about 8,000 square kilometres and it is a very big area. On one hand, 
we are conducting boundary discussions while, on the other hand, the 
area keeps decreasing. Nobody in the National Assembly ever explains 
why this is happening and nobody has ever asked."

Providing a background on the issue, Dasho Pema Wangchuk explained 
that, when Bhutan introduced planned development in 1961, there was 
no map of the country. The government had asked India for help, 
following which the Indian survey department prepared a map for 
Bhutan. This map was used by Bhutan for a long time.

Between 1963 and 1971, Bhutan was able to finalise the boundary in 
the south, with India, but could not finalise the northern border, 
which made it difficult to establish an accurate map.

To get a better understanding of the northern boundary, Bhutan 
deployed a team of officials from the Survey department, along with 
people who knew the boundary, and verified the extent of the border, 
checked tax payments of the people living in the border areas, and 
the extent of the pasture land. After the survey a map was prepared 
and was presented to the 68th National Assembly in 1989, at a special 
session held in Lungtenphu.

This map has been presented to subsequent National Assembly sessions 
whenever necessary.

According to this map the maximum possible area of Bhutan was 38,394 
square kilometres, Dasho Pema Wangchuk said. A copy of the map was 
even presented to the Chinese government.

Concluding the discussions the Speaker of the Assembly said that, in 
view of the concerns expressed by the people of Bhutan, the 
government should make every attempt to finalise the boundary with 
the Chinese government.

By Tashi Dorji
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Dr Brendan Whyte
Geography Department
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
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Dr Brendan Whyte
Geography Department
Faculty of Social Sciences
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Mt Scopus
Jerusalem 91905
ISRAEL
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