When Nehru trekked through the Himalayas to build diplomatic bridges with Bhutan

In the autumn of 1958, as cracks began to emerge in the Sino-Indian diplomatic relationship, Jawaharlal Nehru was forced to cancel a planned visit to Lhasa amid escalating political unrest in Tibet. Even so, India’s first prime minister was determined to undertake a Himalayan diplomatic mission. His destination shifted to the isolated kingdom of Bhutan, although the geography of the era dictated a circuitous route: Nehru would have to cross Sikkim’s Nathu La Pass into Tibet, travel through Yatung in the Chumbi Valley, and then proceed south into Bhutan.

To make this journey, Nehru needed the permission of China, a country that, despite growing tensions, was still publicly regarded as a friend. Writing in the Brooklyn Daily in October 1958, journalist Bert Clemens noted that the “Chinese Reds” found themselves in an awkward position: “They had indicated that Nehru was more than welcome – for were not the Chinese people and those of India by history and tradition, the ‘staunchest of friends and allies?’ – in Tibet, but circumstances made it ‘dangerous’ for him to visit at this time for any period of time.”

Ultimately, Beijing permitted Nehru to transit Tibetan territory en route to and from Bhutan, though the gesture lacked true warmth. “The Chinese gave him his transit visa and a ‘guard of honour,’ which accompanied him every inch of the journey across Tibet and back to India,” Clemens wrote.

During his brief stay in Tibet, the Chinese hosted a banquet for Nehru, who was accompanied by his daughter, Indira Gandhi. At the event, General Tang Kwan-san raised a toast to the prime minister’s health and wished him a safe passage. In response, Nehru dryly thanked his hosts for the “kind arrangements” during what he pointedly termed his “accidental journey”.

Clemens observed that the exchange between Nehru and his Chinese hosts appeared strained. The discomfort was particularly evident when the prime minister “managed to slip in some remarks about the close ties with Tibet over the past thousand years” and the “amicable relations” between the two lands. “The Chinese hosts gulped hard, but said nothing – they had strict orders to wine Nehru, dine him and get him out of Tibet as quickly as possible,” Clemens wrote.

From Tibet, the 68-year-old Nehru travelled by mule and horseback into Bhutan, where he received a ceremonial welcome. While New Delhi enjoyed warm relations with the secluded Himalayan kingdom, the partnership was more complex than it appeared.

Frontier alliance

The foundational architecture of modern relations between the two countries had been laid nearly a decade earlier. In August 1949, just as New Delhi was approaching its second anniversary of independence from British rule, India and Bhutan signed what was called the Treaty of Perpetual Peace and Friendship. A central provision of the treaty was its second article, which stipulated that Bhutan would be “guided by the advice of the Government of India in regard to its external relations”, while obliging India not to interfere in Bhutan’s internal affairs.

The treaty also saw India increase its annual subsidy to Bhutan from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. At the time, Bhutan’s self-imposed isolation meant it possessed little modern infrastructure and few schools or hospitals.

By November 1955, as plans for Nehru’s eventual visit were taking shape, Apa Pant – India’s political officer in Gangtok, who oversaw relations with Sikkim (then an Indian protectorate) and Bhutan – was pushing New Delhi to expand Indian assistance to the kingdom. Writing to TN Kaul, the joint secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, Pant conveyed that Bhutan was “very anxious” for the construction of two major motorable roads linking the two nations.

Estimating the cost at Rs 60-70 lakh, Pant argued that the infrastructure would yield geopolitical dividends. “The fact that these roads are being undertaken and built with some determination would have good effect in Bhutan and would make our task more easy of bringing the peoples of India and Bhutan nearer to each other,” he urged.

In another letter sent on the same day, Pant relayed King Jigme Dorji Wangchuk’s suggestion that India provide equipment for four new hospitals under construction in Bhutan, along with supplies of essential medicines. According to Pant, the king wished the aid to be presented as a gift from India rather than the result of a formal aid, reflecting the friendship between the two countries.

“In Sikkim in one way or another we are sending over 60 lakhs of rupees per year to help in their development programme,” Pant wrote. “Our method of approach in Bhutan is different. Though we want some concrete schemes of development from the Bhutan government, in the beginning at least, we shall have to make some ad hoc free gifts in order to create the necessary confidence in them so that later they depend more and more on our help, guidance and active assistance.”

Pant nevertheless urged discretion. The Bhutanese government, he wrote, was “greatly afraid” that the outside world would view the country as “highly backward and undeveloped” if Indian assistance became visible.

“The Bhutanese are a people with a great ‘national spirit’ and though they want to improve rapidly they want to show to the outside world that they have done it almost by lifting their own boot straps,” Pant observed.

Recognising the “fears and suspicions” harboured by some Bhutanese toward India, particularly concerns about possible encroachment, he recommended providing infrastructure projects worth Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh as “gifts” to help build trust.

“As you know we are dealing with people who are proud as well as have had a tradition of suspicion, aloofness and of being encased in almost water-tight compartments from the outside world,” Pant wrote. At the same time, he noted that Bhutan was gradually moving away from its longstanding policy of “complete isolation and non-cooperation”.

Over the next three years, India continued its assistance to Bhutan, relying heavily on Pant’s advice. When Nehru finally undertook his Himalayan journey in September 1958, he publicly acknowledged the political officer’s role in strengthening bilateral relations.

“Shri Apa Pant, ever since he occupied his present post, has progressively identified himself with the problems and peoples of these regions, which include Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet,” Nehru said in Paro. “He has travelled about a good deal both in Bhutan and Tibet and taken some trouble not only to study the political conditions but also the religious background which affects these people so powerfully.”

Secluded kingdom

Nehru was welcomed in Bhutan by King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, whom Indian officials often referred to as the maharaja. Reflecting on the reception, the prime minister said in Paro: “The Bhutanese people and the Maharaja did everything in their power to make our visit pleasant and agreeable. In addition to these arrangements, which were on a lavish scale, we were surrounded by an atmosphere of friendship and affection.”

The reception revealed how much the relationship had evolved. Nehru recalled that when the king had visited India a few years earlier, he had seemed “a little cautious”, while Indian officials were “a little too anxious to get something out of him” in discussions. By contrast, the conversations during his Bhutan visit took place in what he described as a “spirit of mutual trust”, with “hardly any inhibitions”.

Calling Bhutan “unique among the countries of the world”, Nehru emphasised the kingdom’s extraordinary isolation: “Possibly no other country in the world is quite so inaccessible as Bhutan is even now.” Even the king’s tours of his own country were arduous and time-consuming. Bhutan lacked both a postal system and telegraph network, and, Nehru observed, “Private people here probably communicate with each other in the same way as they did 2,000 years or more ago.”

Yet the prime minister was struck by the kingdom’s egalitarian economic reality. He was told that the typical middle-class farmer in Bhutan rarely held an agricultural plot smaller than five acres, a stark contrast to the impoverished peasantry of India. He was also informed that Bhutan, with a population estimated at around seven lakh, had no beggars and offered relatively high wages for casual labour, which was in short supply.

“Generally speaking, one has the impression of a more or less contented people, or at any rate, of people who are not actively discontented,” Nehru said.

Decades before Bhutan would popularise the concept of Gross National Happiness, he suggested that the kingdom’s people enjoyed a degree of social security that compensated for the absence of many modern amenities. “The basic necessities of life are provided for them, even though they may not have many of the accessories which have become necessities for us elsewhere.”

Beijing’s shadow

Nehru’s Bhutan visit took place against the backdrop of growing concerns about China’s influence in the kingdom. While there, he reflected on India’s position regarding Tibet and its relationship with Beijing. “It was inevitable for us to recognise Chinese sovereignty over Tibet,” he said. “That was politically and historically justified, even though it was tempered by Tibetan autonomy.”

Whether China respected that autonomy was, in Nehru’s view, beyond India’s ability to determine. He made clear that India would not permit “anti-Chinese activities” from its territory. At the same time, he discouraged violent uprisings in Tibet, arguing that Tibetans should press for autonomy without challenging Chinese sovereignty.

When discussing Bhutan, however, Nehru drew a distinction between internal and external independence. The kingdom, he argued, should remain fully independent in its domestic affairs and free from pressure by India or any other country. Yet he believed Bhutan could not realistically function as a fully independent actor in international politics.

“For Bhutan to claim independence in the formal international sense would have no reality and would bring troubles and complications and new burdens upon it,” Nehru said. “Thus, if it sought admission in the United Nations and tried to establish diplomatic missions in other countries, it might tickle the vanity of some people but this was a burden it could not bear and the complications that would ensue would drag Bhutan into all kinds of difficult situations.”

He argued that Article 2 of the 1949 treaty, while explicitly dealing with foreign affairs, implicitly extended to defence matters as well. Bhutanese officials were reluctant to accept this interpretation, but Nehru maintained that foreign policy and defence were “intimately related”. He clarified that India had no intention of stationing troops in Bhutan and would only come to its defence, if attacked – an understanding he claimed had been accepted by the king and the Bhutanese prime minister.

Nehru reassured the king that India supported Bhutan’s desire to preserve its isolation. “Indeed, I thought that even Indians should not be allowed to come in freely for trade or like matters,” he said. “Certainly experts and others should be welcomed.”

Global integration

Nehru returned to India through Tibet and Nathu La. News reports cited him as describing the visit as a success.

In the decades that followed, India and Bhutan became far more closely connected as the kingdom gradually embraced modernisation. At the same time, both lost their traditional access to Tibet after the 1962 Sino-Indian War altered the Himalayan geopolitical landscape.

Nehru’s remarks in Bhutan would also be overtaken by events. In 1971, Bhutan joined the United Nations, with India sponsoring its admission. Membership in the global body helped reinforce Bhutan’s distinct identity and ensured that it did not face the same fate as Sikkim, which was incorporated into India in 1975.

The relationship between New Delhi and Thimphu also evolved. In 2007, the two countries signed a revised friendship treaty that removed the provision requiring Bhutan to be “guided by the advice” of India in its foreign relations.

Ajay Kamalakaran is a writer, primarily based in Mumbai. His latest book, Colombo: Port of Call, has been published by Penguin Random House.