Bhutan, A Buddhist Kingdom, and Their Diplomatic Relations With Israel: PEACE

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                     

Israel's ambassador to India, Ron Malka, right, signs a deal with his counterpart, Ambassador of Bhutan to India Major General Vetsop Namgyel establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, at Malka's residence in India, December 12, 2020. (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Israel established full diplomatic relations with Bhutan for the first time on Saturday night.  It is a country with about 766,397 people of which 2,000 are Muslims, making it a county with their population having 0.2% Muslims.                                           

Bhutan, a Buddhist kingdom on the Himalayas’ eastern edge, is known for its monasteries, fortresses (or dzongs) and dramatic landscapes that range from subtropical plains to steep mountains and valleys. In the High Himalayas, peaks such as 7,326m Jomolhari are popular trekking destinations. Paro Taktsang monastery (also known as Tiger’s Nest) clings to cliffs above the forested Paro Valley.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the development, calling it an “additional fruit of the peace agreements.”

Bhutan has isolationist policies. They hadn't held anything against Israel.   The remote kingdom has a population of just over 770,000 people and only began allowing foreign tourists into the country in 1970. TV and internet were legalized in 1999.

                                           

        

Ambassador to India Ron Malka and his Bhutanese counterpart Vetsop Namgyel signed the final agreement normalizing ties on Saturday night.

The ambassador said that in recent years, Bhutanese governments have reached out to Israel. “They have been impressed by Israel’s abilities for many years, and their prime minister wanted relations,” he said. “We advise them on topics that are important to them like water management, agriculture and technology... education and professional training as well. They’re very interested in the topic of medicine.”

After Bhutan agreed to forge ties with Israel outside of the framework of the accords, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday night said Israel is “in touch with additional countries that want to join and establish relations with us.”

Resource:

https://www.jpost.com/international/israel-normalizes-ties-with-bhutan-651904

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-inks-deal-establishing-diplomatic-relations-with-bhutan/

https://gellerreport.com/2020/12/trump-peace-oman-indonesia-likely-next-countries-to-forge-ties-with-israel.html/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhutan