Journal articles on the topic 'Bhutan – Politics and government'

Bhutan in 2019 was dominated by the change of government in late 2018, better diplomatic relations with India, and cultivation of relations with China. The economy was strong, with the country due to graduate from least developed country status in 2023, though unemployment is a concern.

Bhutan is located on the eastern ridges of the Himalayas between the Assam-Bengal Plain of India to the south and the Plateau of Tibet of southwestern China to the north. In British India the colonial administration established a classical hegemonic relationship with the remote kingdom. In the Treaty of Punakha (1910) the sovereignty of the Bhutanese Royal government was recognized in exchange for submitting control of foreign relations to the British. In independent India, the Himalayan Kingdoms were sandwiched between India and China, facing an uncertain future about their political sovereignty. India concluded a new Treaty with Bhutan (the India-Bhutan Treaty of Peace and Friendship) in 1949, which was designed to remain in force “in perpetuity,” consolidating the essence of the British hegemonic policy of controlling smaller neighbors, with India being the new imperial power. Bhutan became a member state of the UN in 1971 after India finally agreed to sponsor its application, but the small state has limited authority to conduct foreign relations without prior consent from India, and it does not even enjoy formal diplomatic relationship with any of the five permanent members in the United Nations. Bhutan’s quest to wield control over its own affairs free of the influence of India remains unfulfilled.

Abstract Nepal's political transition to a democratic federal republic remains incomplete. A November 2011 agreement on post-conflict integration and rehabilitation offers reason for hope. Continued disagreements over the structure of the federal state and its form of government have delayed the constitution-making process. Corruption, impunity, and weak infrastructure combine to erode Nepali confidence in effective governance. Bhutan's democratic exercise continues to be carefully controlled by entrenched elites, but the country held its first-ever local elections successfully and economic growth stabilized.

The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is an independent state situated between China and India. It emerged as a unified polity in the early 17th century under the rule of an exiled Tibetan religious leader and much of its elite culture, including its medical traditions, were brought from Tibet during this period. The Bhutanese Traditional Medical system subsequently evolved distinct characteristics that enable it to be viewed as a separate part of the Himalayan tradition of Sowa Rigpa (̒the science of healing̓), which includes what is now known as Tibetan Medicine. After coming under the influence of the British imperial Government of India at the beginning of the 20th century, Bhutan was occasionally visited by British Medical Officers from the Indian Medical Service, who accompanied British Political Officers on diplomatic missions there. But when the British withdrew from South Asia in 1947 there were no permanent biomedical structures or even fully qualified Bhutanese biomedical doctors in Bhutan. Since 194 7, Bhutan has evolved a state medical system in which their Traditional Medicine is an integral part and patients have the choice of treatment under traditional or biomedical practitioners. With particular reference to the role of The Institute of Traditional Medicine Services in Thimphu this paper discusses the history, structures and practices of traditional medicine in Bhutan, including its interaction with biomedicine.

Consistent with the pan-Himalayan tendency to see the landscape as lively and animated, protector deities and local spirits are perceived to inhabit various features of the landscape in Bhutan, causing these places to be treated with reverence and respect. Local spiritual beliefs are prized as central to the cultural identity of the Kingdom, making their way into government planning documents, town planning negotiations, and the 2008 Constitution. This elevation of local spiritual belief has been central to the maintenance and preservation of Bhutanese culture in its encounter with globally hegemonic social, economic, and political norms. Spirits and deities are believed to be the original owners of the land predating the introduction of Buddhism from Tibet. According to terma texts—spiritual treasures hidden by great Buddhist teachers to be discovered later—the initial introduction of Buddhism into Bhutan occurred in the seventh century. At that time, the Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo, the 32nd king of the Yarlung dynasty, built two temples in western and central parts of Bhutan as part of a strategy to pin down a demoness who was ravaging the Himalaya. About a century after the construction of the temples, Padmasambhava, known throughout the Himalayas as Guru Rimpoche, or “Precious Teacher,” arrived in Bhutan, subjugated eight classes of local spirits and made them sworn protectors of the Dharma. In this way, local deities and spirits became incorporated into Bhutan’s Vajrayana Buddhism to the extent that images of them are found at Buddhist temples and monasteries. Vajrayana Buddhism and local deities and spirits twine together in Bhutan to shape a cosmology that recognizes a spectrum of sentient beings, only some of whom are visible. The presence of deities and spirits informs local land use. Deity abodes or “citadels” (Dz.: pho brang) are restricted from human use. The presence of a deity citadel is sufficient in some locales to cause the diversion or reconsideration of human construction and resource use. By grounding spiritual beliefs in specific sites of the landscape, the citadels of deities sanctify the landscape, becoming nodes of resistance and resilience that support the Bhutanese in inhabiting their own internally-consistent cosmology, even as the pressures of global integration seek to impose hegemonic Western norms.

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are major public health problem in Bhutan, accounting for 68% of total deaths. The growing epidemic of NCDs threatens the achievement of Gross National Happiness (GNH). NCDs are the results of complex interaction of social and economic risk factors and change in diet and lifestyle. Effective action to prevent and control these diseases requires a whole-of-government approach.In this paper we review new evidence to support political priority for NCDs in Bhutan. One third of the Bhutanese are overweight (33%) and hypertensive (35.7), and 6.4% are diabetic. The prevalence of modifiable risk factors is also very high. We also present the analysis of strategic policy opportunities for health sector to integrate the ‘Multisectoral national action plan for the prevention and control of NCDs, 2015-2020’ into policies across all relevant sectors. Our analysis has identified three specific opportunities for the health sector to engage strategically to strengthen action on NCDs and GNH, concurrently: 1) raising priority actions on NCDs within the existing GNH multisectoral committee, to achieve both health and happiness objectives; 2) identifying shared agenda between NCDs and GNH to achieve both health and happiness objectives; and 3) identifying shared GNH determinants between NCDs and GNH to enhance action on NCDs. Addressing NCDs aligns with the optimization of Gross National Happiness. It is imperative that the Government of Bhutan recognize that action on NCDs is an integral element for achieving GNH.

Evidence is produced that Bhutanese citizens are adopting many of the media and communication technologies and practices common in more developed countries, and that the government has the political will to encourage this with infrastructure spending. This article links the two and reports that infrastructure spending and legislative encouragement, especially through unique social and cultural structures, appears to enhance the growth and emergence of media enterprises, a key driver of diversity and democracy. Key limitations on further expansion are identified as the remote location of the country and the low teledensity evident in this village-based society.

The era of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is characterized by sensational and dramatic political developments. As the post-1972 developments revealed, Bhuttos style of politics was quite different from what he had been projecting ever since 1967. The PPP was lacking the collaborative working mechanism. The opposition leaders sensed undemocratic treatment all the time. The PPP victory in the firstever general elections of 1970 afforded to the party an opportunity to make a new beginning. A change in the attitude of the party leadership, however, did not allow the ship of the nation to sail smoothly. This paper evaluates the performance of the PPP government with reference regarding constitutional development when PPP was in power. The purpose is to determine whether or not the PPP style of politics was in line with the spirit of the Constitution and under the established principles of democracy.

India-China border has not been formally demarcated and there are areas where both sides have differing perception of Line of Actual Control (LAC), and its perception on ground have led to a number of skirmishes and standoffs, Doklam being the most recent. The differentiating factor in this standoff was that it took place in a third country, Bhutan. This crisis will remain an important indicator of Indian and Chinese strategic behaviour in any future crisis between the two emerging powers. This will also reflect on India’s relations with other countries in South Asia and vice versa. A major aspect of Indian strategic behaviour that emerged from this crisis was that India can play the game of military brinkmanship and win it. During this crisis, the Chinese strategy of Three Warfares was in full flow and all three components—public opinion/media, legal and psychological warfare—were unleashed on India. This article is based on Indian and Chinese government briefings and press releases, media both print and electronic of the two countries, social media, journals, government reports, and books of the two countries.

The scope and intensity of policy transfer has increased in recent years as developing countries have drawn on public sector reform programmes based on new public management practices originally designed in western democracies. However, there is mounting evidence that to be successful, reform programmes must be adapted to local contexts. This article demonstrates that national government control of policy transfer can enable localisation which in turn enhances the effectiveness of public reforms. Analysis of the Position Classification System ‐ which sought to enhance accountability, efficiency and professionalism in the civil service in Bhutan ‐ highlights two conditions that enable domestic control of the policy transfer process: strong internal motivation for engaging in policy transfer and the establishment or adaptation of institutions to manage processes of policy transfer. We conclude that when these conditions apply, a developing country can engage in successful voluntary policy transfer and retain control of the process.

Bhutan’s current constitution draws upon the historical dual system of religious-civil governance under the monarchy (previously Abbot-king) embodying the Mahayana Buddhist concept of Boddhisatva-leadership. Bhutan’s democracy includes an executive-military and pluralist religious custodian role for the King who can be abdicated by parliament. It includes Gross National Happiness as spiritual core, which is non-binding law, incorporating many human rights and human values like compassion. The ban on proselytization in the secular constitution should be viewed from a geopolitical post-colonial perspective of the Christian civilization mission and India/China annexation-politics, and Asian definitions of secularism (Royal patronage of religious pluralism). Christians do experience restrictions on congregation. Hindu Nepalese-origin migrants experience(d) citizenship issues due to geopolitical context but can express religion fully. GNH-policy also has certain implementation difficulties and the GNH index indicates declining community values and spirituality in the face of modernist development. Bhutan’s constitution does not fall within the definition of theocracy. The clergy is excluded from the electoral process. The King’s authority is mainly based on moral leadership, popular uncertainty about imported democracy, and is non-absolute but larger than conventional constitutional monarchies. The constitution is more secular than Buddhist in its binding provisions and offers space for non-GNH oriented governments, also in recent practice. Preserving identity and stability is Bhutan’s aim and secularism needs to look at a group approach, apart from individualist approaches. Human rights traditions could acknowledge the cultural-religious roots that inspired them and keep human dignity alive, instead of wanting to remove it from the state altogether and making human rights the new religion.

For most Indians, the North East (NE) has remained largely on the fringes of nationhood as well as on the periphery of the country’s geography. This is partly because India has ignored the region politically and economically for a long time, and partly because the complex social and cultural dynamics have made it difficult to integrate the region with the rest of the country. However, India can never achieve sustained high economic growth or become a powerful integrated nation if it continues to think of developing NE as a rural infrastructure project. It is a region of seven states – Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura – that has four international borders – China, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan – and accounts for a major source of hydrocarbons (oil and gas), coal, limestone, tea, bamboo and other resources. A big, bold, tangible, all-encompassing strategy is suggested in this article to kick-start an economic revolution in the NE, using domestic businesses and partnerships neighbouring South East Asian countries. The paper uses the model of the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), a $90 billion effort funded jointly by Government of India and Government of Japan to make western India into an economic powerhouse. Part 1 of this paper examines the political and economic landscape of the region and explains how diplomacy, policing and development brought peace to Assam and to NE at large. Part 2 proposes a major new economic plan for the future, with Thailand as partner.

Benazir Bhutto has the distinction of being the first popularly elected female prime minister in any Muslim country in the world. But this distinction was preceded by her more than a decade long struggle against dictatorship of General Ziaul Haq. Aspiring to join diplomatic corps or media as a journalist, she entered in politics under the force of circumstances in 1977 after the government of her father, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was toppled in a coup. Gradually, she occupied the center stage in the politics of Pakistan through her sheer struggle against dictatorship and for restoration of democracy in the country. In the process, she was subjected to repeated detentions, intimidation, coercion as well as physical and mental hardships to abandon her struggle. However, she was able to sustain those hardships and finally paved the way towards restoration of democracy in Pakistan in 1988.

The award system of Indonesia currently includes fourteen orders and thirty-three medals. The history of award system of Indonesia and its connections with Indonesian politics and state development is almost unknown. There are official documents such as laws, presidential and government decrees which help to examine the instituting of orders and decorations, and open sources including encyclopedias, newspapers, and news websites which give an information about awardees. The paper deals with the Air Force Meritorious Service Star of Indonesia – Bintang Swa Bhuwana Paksa instituted in late 1968 by then-President Suharto. He also instituted two orders for other branches of the Armed Forces of Indonesia –Bintang Jalasena, or the Navy Meritorious Service Star, and Bintang Kartika Eka Paksi, or Army Meritorious Service Star. These decorations served to praise loyal army officers who actively supported the New Order Regime of Suharto. The Air Force Meritorious Service Star is a sign of a professional position of an officer in the Indonesian Air Forces (Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Udara).

This paper acquainted readers with the concept of turbo-capitalism as a form of capitalism. The person who precisely defi ne this is Edward Luttwak, term of turbo-capitalism through free markets, privatization, globalization and deregulation. The paper set the basic differences between capitalism and turbo-capitalism. Economic stability and job security is for the individual “better tomorrow”. The development of technology and faster flow of information should promote economic development and economic progress of modern states. I would like to draw. the attention on the fact that turbo-capitalism is focused on maximizing profits, which does not solve social problems. National governments are losing economic strenght and, consequently, reduces social welfare and does not prevent crime and terrorism. Multiplication of turbo-capitalism profits leads to the increase of unemployment and therefore social pathology. This paper shows that the wellbeing, which is the main objective of turbo-capitalism, could not be the main goal of politics and society as it improves the material status of a few individuals, while it does not bring happiness to the majority. My work in this area is a “voice” of the wise limitations of turbo-capitalism, because this process uncontrolled can lead to the destruction of mankind. I tried to show that turbo-capitalism is the greatest threat to democracy. Capitalism could not focus on the individual, because it leads to “loneliness” of people in a wide range. In my work I have acquainted the reader with the situation created in Bhutan, during the inventions of civilization. I had presented in this work opportunities for Third World countries through the free movement of capital, modern technologies and investments. The reader has to understand, however, that the information revolution brings very big threat to humanity. The Industrial Revolution leads t o rapid growth in employment and decline of information technology indicators at one time. The reader should learn from the negative effects of the American turbo-capitalism and help to develop positive qualities.

Both Nepal and Bhutan formed new parliamentary governments in 2014. In both cases, a new party took control, but major policies remained unchanged. Many people experienced hardships in buying basic commodities (because of inflation in Nepal and a subsidy dispute in Bhutan). Nepal faced three natural disasters.

AbstractAn assessment of management effectiveness was carried out for all the protected areas in the Kingdom of Bhutan. During 2014–2016 the Royal Government of Bhutan developed a custom-made tool for assessing management effectiveness: the Bhutan Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool Plus (Bhutan METT +). This was implemented in Bhutan's 10 protected areas and one botanical park, and the results were verified through field trips and expert reviews. The assessment indicates that protected areas in Bhutan are well managed and there are generally good relationships with local communities, despite an increase in livestock predation and crop damage. However, effectiveness is limited by a low level of resources (both financial and appropriate technical resources) and by gaps in monitoring and research data, which limits the ability to understand the impact of conservation, react to changing conditions and undertake adaptive management to improve efficiency and effectiveness. Bhutan is in the midst of mobilizing considerable conservation funding. The Government is working in partnership with WWF to create an innovative funding mechanism for the protected area system: the Bhutan for Life initiative. The Bhutan METT + study provides an example of how to develop a baseline against which to measure the effectiveness of protected areas over time and assess the impact of conservation inputs.

This article describes the December 2003 Bhutanese military action against northeast Indian insurgent groups that had set up camps in Bhutan. It analyzes the reasons why Bhutan was forced to deal with this problem and places its actions in the context of domestic politics and foreign relations.

This article synthesizes and clarifies the significance of the last half-century’s developments in Bhutan’s politics within the frame of Buddhist political thought. During this time, Bhutan has held a curious position in the international community, both celebrated as a Buddhist Shangri-La defending its culture in the face of globalized modernity, and at times, criticized for defending its heritage too conservatively at the expense of ethnic minorities’ human rights. In other words, Bhutan is praised for being anti-modern and illiberal and denounced for being anti-modern and illiberal. As an alternative to understanding Bhutan vis-à-vis this unhelpful schema, and in order to better grasp what exactly is underway in Bhutan’s political developments, I read Bhutan’s politics from within the tradition of Buddhist political literature. I argue that the theory of governance driving Bhutan’s politics is an example of Buddhist modernism—both ancient and modern, deeply Buddhist and yet manifestly inflected by western liberalism. To elucidate Bhutan’s contiguity with (and occasional departures from) the tradition of Buddhist political thought, I read two politically-themed Buddhist texts, Nāgārjuna’s Precious Garland and Mipham’s Treatise on Ethics for Kings, drawing out their most relevant points on Buddhist governance. I then use these themes as a lens for analyzing three significant political developments in Bhutan: its recent transition to constitutional monarchy, its signature policy of Gross National Happiness, and its fraught ethnic politics. Reading Bhutan’s politics in this manner reveals the extent to which Buddhist political thought is underway in this moment. Bhutan’s Buddhist-modernist theory of governance is a hybrid political tradition that evinces a lasting commitment to the core values of Buddhist political thought while at the same time being responsive to modern geopolitical and intellectual influences.

The spectacular success of BJP in the recent General Elections invited a mixed assessment from different positions. But mostly it was oversimplification and undermining of its success. On the other hand, the victory of AAP in assembly elections was taken as an alternative in making. For example along with other commenter’s in an article (published in The Indian Express, 26 May 2014, op-ed page) renowned lawyer and AAP leader Shri Shanti Bhushan analysed the electoral success of BJP and the future course for AAP that lacks in substance. It tried to under-assessed the BJP’s success and oversimplified the road ahead for AAP. As it like wait till BJP does the same blunders as Congress did. In this paper some light will be thrown on BJP’s success and legacy but will mainly discuss the AAP phenomena in Indian politics with a view to access the recent developments in party and as an emerging alternative that can also be an opportunity to capture the space vacated by the Left movement in India. First of all I would like to argue that considering the BJP after the failed Janta Party Experiment as a ‘faction of Janta Party’ (Shri Bhushan’s views) is not a correct judgment. Actually the Bhartiya Jan Sangha was the last party that remained as Janta Party coalition after the other four parties that came together without merging their distinctive identities to form Janta Party left the coalition at their will to pursue their own ambitions. Hence it was not just a matter of chance that the new party that emerged on the Indian political scene after the failed Janta experiment named Bhartiya Janta Party (Bhartiya Jana Sangha + Janta Party = Bhartiya Janta Party). The then leaders not only launched a new party with inheriting the name but also the legacy. As it was more moderate and reformed on many policy agendas by incorporating Gandhian- JP Legacy to fight against the ruling dispensation. That seed has now grown as a Banyan tree and shadowing the Indian political scene defying all ifs and buts. Although it is still to be tested that how will a full majority BJP will work in coming years as many scholars of Indian politics doubt the BJP’s course of action as a single full majority party (see Christophe Jaffrelot, 2003). It is also because the earlier BJP led government was a crippled and soft BJP as NDA coalition and also Atal Bihari Bajpai as its leader and was not able to pursue its core Hindutwa demands of building Ram temple, Uniform Civil Code and the abolition of Article 370 of the Constitution for the full merger of J&K into Indian Union.

The Kingdom of Bhutan lies in the folds of the eastern Himalayas, sandwiched between India to the south and China to the north. It has a total area of 38394 km2, which is roughly the size of Switzerland, and a population of a little over 70 0000 (Royal Government of Bhutan, 2002). It is a mountainous country, except for a small flat strip in the southern foothills. The official language is Dzongha, but English is widely spoken. English is the medium of instruction from pre-primary level onwards. In 1999 Bhutan allowed viewing of television and use of the internet, as a step towards modernisation. In the early 20th century, Bhutan came into contact with the British Empire; Bhutan maintains strong bilateral relations with India. Business Week magazine in 2006 rated Bhutan the happiest country in Asia and the eighth happiest in the world, based on a global survey. Bhutan is in fact the only country where happiness is measured in the form of an index, ‘Gross National Happiness’. The main religion practised in the country is Buddhism, with Hinduism as the second most prevalent. The capital and largest city is Thimphu. In 2007, Bhutan made the transition from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy, and held its first general election in 2008. Bhutan is a member of the United Nations and of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC); it hosted the 16th SAARC summit in April 2010.

Knowing the quantity and the composition of waste is essential to designing and delivering sound waste management policies and waste management systems. Bhutan’s 12th Five-Year Development Plan emphasizes effective waste management as one of its key performance indicators and globally, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development emphasizes the importance of waste in two of its seventeen Sustainable Development Goals. In 2019, the Bhutan National Statistics Bureau undertook its first ever survey of solid waste management. The survey covered waste generating sectors including households, commercial units, institutes, health centers, industries, Government offices and vegetable markets. Results show Bhutan generated more than 170 metric tons of waste daily – equivalent to 170,000 kilograms of sugar. More than 50 percent of solid wastes came from households, almost 50 percent was food waste, and around 50 percent was potentially recyclable. The survey posed many challenges for Bhutan, a land-locked least developed country in the Eastern Himalayas in South Asia, yet provided the opportunity to strengthen stakeholder engagement in the Bhutan National Statistical System and delivered statistics which meet a practical use for Bhutan and its people.

In Bhutan, recent increases in annual teacher attrition rates, particularly in rural areas, pose significant challenges for the government and concerned agencies in terms of retaining qualified teachers and reducing teacher attrition rates and turnover. This article, partly based on a field study exploring the quality of work life (QWL) and well-being of school teachers in rural Bhutan, explores the possible reasons why such teachers might seek to resign. Using mixed methodology, the study reveals poor QWL and well-being of teachers, caused by a variety of factors. In view of such findings, the Ministry of Education and the government need to ensure better all-round protection for teachers to avoid the risk of large-scale resignations.

In Bhutan half of the population is under the age of 25 (United Nations 2017) and strengthening the pathways of all young people, regardless of their background, is one of the priorities in the Bhutan Education Blueprint 2014-2024. This study examines the transitions from school of a sample of 895 young school completers from Western Bhutan in 2013. It considers the impact of gender, socio-economic status (SES), school type and subject stream on their destinations. The study revealed that males, public school students and higher SES students were more likely to enter university and government vocational training institutes, while girls, private school completers and lower SES students were more likely to enter private vocational training institutions, repeat Year 12, work or enter the labour market. The study provides invaluable findings about the post-school choices of young Bhutanese and their post-school pathways, as well as providing suggestions for policy reform and further research designed to improve the transitions of young people in Bhutan.

Bhutan is a small yet water-abundant country. The country suffers from frequent flooding and is lately experiencing a growing risk of localized droughts due to inappropriate water resource management and climate change. Such a situation calls for much more efficient use and management of water in Bhutan. This paper undertakes an extensive analysis of the country’s water resources for better planning and management of the available water resources. Bhutan can be divided into three zones, the Southern Foothills, the Central Inner Himalayas, and the Higher Himalayas. The top four leading industries of Bhutan are related to water, either directly or indirectly. The country at present is at a very early stage of development. The government has prioritized water resources management over recent years. Water for hydropower in Bhutan has been in focus as compared to that allocated for irrigation, industries, and environmental demand. The demand for water in Bhutan has also increased in the last decade due to population increase, changes in lifestyle, and economic advancements through tourism and hydropower projects. Climate variation, deteriorating water quality, frequent floods, and increasing urbanization threaten the sustainability of water resources. Water accessibility issues for settlements due to the country’s harsh geographical landscape is leading towards localized water scarcity. Serious attention to rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharge is required to address localized water scarcity issues.

Medicines Regulatory Agencies (MRAs) are responsible for evaluation of quality, safety and efficacy of medicinal products before it is approved for consumption. The regulatory procedures, however, differs from one country to another. Medical products including vaccines, blood and blood products, diagnostics and medical devices are essential for healthcare delivery across the world. The Drug Regulatory Authority (DRA) is an independent national agency for regulation of medicinal products in Bhutan and reports to Bhutan Medicines Board (BMB), the highest policy making body for regulation of medicinal products in the country. Medicines Act of the Kingdom of Bhutan is the legal tool for regulation of medicines in Bhutan. Medicinal products are regulated through premarketing and post-marketing control systems. All medicinal products available in the Bhutanese market are registered. DRA regulates all the medicinal products including vaccines, blood products and traditional medicines used for human and veterinary. DRA is fully financed by the Government of Bhutan. Bhutan’s medicines regulatory system has evolved over the last one decade. However, as the regulatory mandate continues to increase, DRA is faced with several challenges in terms of human resource, infrastructure and testing laboratory among others. There are also opportunities for the DRA to improve its regulatory capacities to ensure availability of quality and safe medicines for the public. Understanding the current practice of medicines regulation in Bhutan can help identify gaps and existing opportunities for improving the regulatory capacity. This article documents the existing practices, challenges and opportunities for regulation of medicinal products in Bhutan.

Bhutan has a unique policy of “high value, low impact”, towards tourism. The tourists visiting the country are divided into two forms, first are the ones who have been covered under the above-mentioned policy, whereas the second are the regional tourists, who are the tourists mainly from the three SAARC nations viz, India, Maldives and Bangladesh. As per the diplomatic agreement the visitors from these countries are exempted from the tourism policy and are considered to be of low value to the Bhutanese economy from the revenue and employment point of view. However, the regional tourists have been sharing a significant share of more than 50% in the overall tourism in the kingdom before covid 19. With the global pandemic, the rationale of having regional tourists and creating appropriate policies to deal with them has been a point of deliberations now. The point of consideration has been about the way regional tourists can affect the hotel industry in Bhutan as it contributes to the increase in the revenue for the country. As a result, our country can be able to generate more revenue from regional tourists by encouraging a greater number of hotels as tourism is the second highest revenue-generating factor in Bhutan. This study attempts to analyse the impact of regional tourist on the hotel industry in Bhutan and explores the mediating role of the government policies. For the purpose of the study, a quantitative analysis has been carried out on the hotels of three most visited cities in Bhutan i.e., Thimphu, Paro and Phuentsholing using the snowball method. From these analyses we were able to come up with the conclusion of how the increasing number of regional tourists are having the impact on the hotel industry based on the factors like government policies, e-technology and capacity of the hotels.

To lay foundation in the literature related to the genre of advertisements, this paper is a synchronic approach to study the job advertisements made by the Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC) of Bhutan. RCSC is the major recruiting agency of civil servants into a government job. As mandated, RCSC recruits thousands of fresh employees annually. RCSC features its job-related announcements in the media, mainly the Bhutan Broadcasting Service, the mainstream media and also in its official website. The data of this study was the ‘Vacancy Announcement’ dated January 8, 2020, featured in RCSC website and the analysis of the data was based on Swale’s (1990) Six Defining Characteristics of Discourse Community. The results showcased Bhutan as a bilingual society for informing the citizens as the job advertisements were delivered in both Dzongkha and English. RCSC’s format of job advertisement employed the common format used by most of the organisations. This study points that there is a need to look into some elements used by other organisations. Therefore, this study recommends RCSC, as the major recruiting agency in Bhutan, to incorporate other missing elements of job advertisement.

Nations, institutions and researchers around the world are increasingly demanding their governments set out a systemic change to humanize the present order of the world. Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness (GNH) index is a deliberate attempt to embed Bhutanese values into national governance structures. GNH provides clarity of what it means to be a politician, a public servant as citizens and government machineries and as individual human being, and that clarity is primarily the need to pursue everything in moderation, and the need to provide policy, focus and sharpness. Bhutan measures happiness through nationwide GNH surveys every five years. The latest GNH survey report shows that the perception of government performance is among the lowest of the 33 indicators, and was the most prominent decrease in the sufficiency level on people’s perception of the government performance across the 33 indicators. For Bhutan to achieve GNH, this indicator must be investigated in depth, therefore, this thesis centres on a significantly understudied context of government performance as it explores the nature of GNH qualitatively. This work is of national importance to Bhutan, representing a high-level and intellectually rigorous engagement with national policy for social good. The qualitative exploration in this study offers a unique examination into the interpretations and complexities of perceptions of the political economy of GNH, underpinning an intricate and textured picture of the lives of Bhutanese. The greatest strength of this thesis is that I have been able to conduct in-depth interviews with policy experts: such as the Presidents of political parties, Members of Parliament, Chief Policy Officers of government, and leadership of government, corporate and private institutions. In addition, this study has wider educational, economic, and social policy implications for countries seeking to structure national identities which go beyond employability, clearly aligning with AUT’s vision for its graduates.

Bhutan is now a democracy. This new democracy promotes adult franchise. It conducts periodic elections and has elected members in parliament and government. It has political parties contesting elections. Despite these basics of democracy, the country lacks accountability mechanisms, participatory channels, independent and active civil societies, education about democracy, and monitoring system that are central to a functional democracy. Citizen-government continue to remain a concerning factors in institutionalising democracy in Bhutan. Drawing from regional experiences, Bhutan poised to have a bumpy ride on democracy. The issue of human rights and social justice would be a far cry. This paper discusses parameters of democracy and public participation in Bhutan and the future of Bhutanese democracy.

The uprising of 1990 in Bhutan was a wakeup call for Bhutanese monarchy to reform. The response remains the blackest period in the country’s history. Women were raped; political leaders, students, human right activists and other common people were tortured and jailed. Many succumbed to torture; no one has the definite data of how many. Ethnic cleansing took place resulting in the eviction of more than one-sixth of the country’s population. Largest per capita refugees were produced. Movement for dignified repatriation has failed miserably but the resettlement of those Bhutanese refugees in developed countries was declared a great success. The King announced in 2005 that the country will have a ‘democratic’ government. He handed over his authority to his son to govern. The king and the country received massive appreciation for initiating democracy. By nature, the democracy should primarily benefit those who demanded it. Instead, Bhutan is the only democracy in the world where pro-democracy activists are still serving jail sentences. International community remain mute spectator to the sugar-coated Bhutanese democracy. Royal Government of Bhutan fooled them by taking advantage of their interest on geopolitics. This paper entails the story of dissidents behind the bars, their families and response from the international community – including governments, human rights groups and the United Nations. Additionally, this paper highlights the implementation of fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution of Bhutan and to see if such fundamental rights as enshrined in the constitution are real or not.

We offer the second issue of The Bhutan Journal of Bhutan Watch to readers. It gives us an immense pleasure and satisfaction to some extent. It is an unofficial link between the Bhutanese Diaspora and Bhutan. This issue also carries many grievances of the past and the agony of unsolved issues. This journal like the first one also carries sentiments and contents of Bhutanese diaspora more than Bhutan. The political prisoners detained on charges of demanding democracy in the country are still in prisons even after 12 years of democracy. The king, who is above the law is raising an army and is in an early phase of running a parallel government.

AbstractThis paper explores how property rights arrangements affect the equity, efficiency and sustainability of high-altitude rangeland management in Bhutan from the perspectives of rangeland users. Property rights affect how natural resources are allocated to individuals, communities and institutions and how they are managed. In Bhutan, only grazing rights are granted to rangeland users, as ownership of rangeland lies with the State. Three case study areas were selected across Bhutan with different levels of rangeland degradation, governance arrangements and property rights regimes. Semi-nomadic yak herders, sedentary livestock farmers and government officials participated in 40 semi-structured interviews and nine focus group discussions between 2013 and 2014. Findings revealed that historical inequities exist with private leases and some communal leases, but government-supported leases with management rights are considered more equitable. All property rights systems can become unproductive and inefficient with increasing populations, but communal areas are at greater risk of sub-optimal resource use and conflicts. Respondents were concerned about the lack of management rights, uncertainty over future lease arrangements and climate change impacts. This research revealed that (i) assignment of incomplete property rights is detrimental to efficient and sustainable natural resource management; (ii) banning of traditional practices such as burning, clearing and cutting of shrubs and bushes could undermine conservation by triggering natural resource degradation; (iii) granting of management rights in the bundle of rights is vital to encourage provisioning and maintenance activities; and (iv) in the absence of official contracts, deeds or titles which provide tenure security and political legitimacy, equitable distribution, clear boundary demarcation with written norms and rules are not sufficient to foster long-term investment in provisioning and maintenance activities. We discuss the implications of the findings for delayed implementation of the Land Act 2007 aimed at a more equitable redistribution of use rights and improved high-altitude rangeland management in Bhutan.

The study addresses several questions related to the effect of institutional variables on foreign direct investment inflows in South Asian countries consisting of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The institutional variables taken in the study include control of corruption, political instability, quality of governance, regulatory quality, and rule of law. The paper uses panel data for the period of 1990-2015. The objective of this paper is to study the impact of institutional determinants on FDI inflows in eight South Asian countries. The main findings of the paper indicate that government effectiveness and trade openness are having a positive impact on FDI inflows while control of corruption and regulatory quality have negatively affected FDI inflows in these eight South Asian Countries.

(Views of Major General S B Asthana,SM,VSM, (Veteran), Questioned by Jiangtao Shi of South China Morning Post on 29 August 2017.Question 1 (SCMP)Are you surprised that the over 70-day military standoff ended all of a sudden just days ahead of PM Narendra Modi’s trip to China for the BRICS summit? The deliberate ambiguity in both sides’ statements seems to indicate that both sides were willing to make some kind of concessions in a bid to end the dispute in a mutually acceptable face-saving manner. What are the main reasons and factors behind the seemingly peaceful solution for China and India respectively? (For China , BRICS and the 19th party congress? For India, domestic political support and economic reform?)Answer 1 by Major General S B AsthanaI am not really surprised that the over 70-day military standoff ended all of a sudden just days ahead of PM Narendra Modi’s trip to China for the BRICS summit. As you have rightly pointed out, both sides (China and India) were looking for an opportunity for a face saving resolution, without appearing to be weak domestically. The likelihood of absence of PM Modi in BRICS Summit, and its resultant political and diplomatic cost, triggered that opportunity. In my opinion, the main reasons behind such a sudden resolution were:-Any escalation beyond the point of standoff as on 28 August could have been cost prohibitive in terms of economical engagement, political and diplomatic cost, human casualties, without any worthwhile gains for both sides. Prolonging it was not in the national interest of either of the country.Success of BRICS is important for all member countries including China. China refusal to talk without precondition of Indian withdrawal and repeated provocative statements was exhibiting its arrogance. This wasn’t going well with global community, besides giving an indirect message to all including BRICS, about its hegemonic intentions and poor diplomatic acumen. Even US and Japan, who were not involved with Doklam, chose to state that both must talk to resolve it. The fact that China did not accept ICA verdict, continued aggressive posturing in South China Sea, violated 2012 Agreement in Doklam Triangle, and was seen as not doing enough to implement UN obligation against North Korea. It was affecting its global image adversely, hence some midcourse correction was needed, which has been done through this adjustment.An India China conflict, besides shattering dreams of economic prosperity of both countries, could have escalated to international dimensions, more so with ongoing problems of North Korea and South China Sea, and turbulence in Af- Pak Region. The fact that both are nuclear states cannot be discounted in strategic calculus of escalation dynamics.Militarily the escalation dynamics was not thought through. If war gamed properly, the escalation would have resulted in stalemate, which would have damaged the image of President Xi Jinping and reduced his chances for getting favourable people in 19th Party Congress in his second term and any possible prospects of his third term.From Indian perspective also, escalation of this standoff wasn’t in its National Interest. India needs China’s market for its growth in future, even if the balance of trade is not in its favour today. Now that India is on ‘Make in India’ path, as fastest growing economy to bring prosperity to its people,it may not like to slow down due to such meaningless disruptions.There was no domestic pressure on Indian Government, as all political parties,Security forces and public were determined to check Chinese encroachment and arrogance, at any cost.Question 2(SCMP)While an “expeditious disengagement” in Doklam brought an end to the border standoff and ease tensions between the two countries, do you think it could fuel nationalist sentiment, mistrust and hostility in both nations and cast a long shadow over the longstanding border dispute between China and India and their relations? What are the immediate and long-term implications of the border standoff on bilateral relations, especially considering the strategic competition and rivalry for dominance in the region between the nuclear-armed Asian giants? Will it have a long-term impact on the regional geopolitical landscape?Answer 2 by Major General S B AsthanaDoklam standoff is neither the first, nor the last, and not even the longest standoff between India and China. Many strategists argue that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are strong leaders, leading their nations with patriotic sentiments. The nationalist self-confidence from both sides may ignite a heated rivalry in which bilateral relations could deteriorate, because an “expeditious disengagement” in Doklam is only a temporary answer to the bigger problem of longstanding border dispute between both.Out of 14 countries with which China had border issues, it has resolved with 12 except India and Bhutan. With India, China has been delaying settling the border issue on some pretext or the other, and with Bhutan it has been shifting its claim lines many times. I understand that permanent resolution of Border Dispute is the ultimate solution, which needs to be expedited. It is a complex problem, as both sides read history in a manner that it supports their claims. This was the reason for both countries to have signed various agreements to ensure peace and tranquillity along the borders, which have been reasonably successful, as no bullet has been fired amongst both Forces in last four decades.Even if resolution of boundary is considered to be a complex problem, the demarcation, delineation and defining of Line of Actual Control (LAC), (which is not a mutually accepted line as of now), is an inescapable necessity. This is do-able by cooperative political intent, to be followed by intense diplomatic efforts. This action cannot be postponed further if the two neighbours have to live peacefully in future without further standoffs’. It needs to be understood that with un-demarcated LAC, troops of both sides will patrol as per their own perceptions of LAC; some areas will be common which both sides will patrol to be its own. Every such patrol will be called as intrusion by the other side, hence such face-offs will continue tillit’s demarcated, and the identification of its demarcation is made known to troops manning the borders. The short term impacts of standoffs were the anxiety among people, possible temporary setback to trade, tension on borders, non attendance of important events like BRF/BRICS if not resolved. The long term impact could have been hardening of varying stand on border resolution, aggressive strategic competition, and growth of interest based strategic partnerships to balance each other.Being neighbors, most populated, developing countries and significant trading partners of future, China and India have convergence of interests in many areas.Our economical engagements, mutual cooperation can proceed with strategic divergences, and this has been demonstrated adequately in past.Question3(SCMP)What are messages for other Asian nations caught between the increasing rivalry between China and India? What are the main takeaways for countries like Bhutan , Sri Lanka , Vietnam , Myanmar , Japan , Singapore and Mongolia ?Answer 3 by Major General S B AsthanaI do not subscribe to the idea of growing rivalry between China and India. The extension of economical and strategic space by large growing countries like China and India, to fulfil their genuine needs is natural and may not necessarily be a rivalry. In case some Asian nation is caught between contradictory needs of China and India, in my opinion it should look after its own national interest.The main message which comes out loud and clear from Doklam episode is that in today’s world no country can afford to be arrogant to bully smaller sovereign nation, if the smaller Nation is determined to stand up for its national interest. If Cuba could stand up to US, Bhutan could stand up to China, Vietnam could stand up to China as well as US, then smaller countries should also look after their national interest, without worrying about the size and might of any power, trying to push them or manipulate their genuine strategic choices.In my perception, the DoklamPlateau was presumably chosen by China for road construction to violate 2012 Treaty at this point of time because:-India and Bhutan boycotted Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation, the Doklam ingress could embarrass both the countries simultaneously.Stressing on 1890 Treaty by China takes away the logic of Tibet, as a player in dealing with India, thus a subtle message to Dalai Lama that he is not a stake holder in Tibet.Test the depth of Indo- Bhutanese security relationship.The area being too close to Siliguri Corridor/Chicken’s Neck, India had to be concerned and had to decide whether to intervene or otherwise in India’s own national interest, thereby conveying a message of standing up or not standing up to a challenge from Beijing in future too.As the construction activity was in Bhutanese Territory, a strong Indian reaction was not expected.In case India takes action, China can proclaim itself as an innocent victim and blame India to be an aggressor.China was however surprised by an unexpectedly strong Indian reaction, and then it realized that the point chosen was such, where it had strategic and tactical disadvantages for her in escalating it. China was also surprised that in multiparty democracy like India, all parties are on the same page as far as stand on sovereignty and Doklam Issue was concerned.The end result was that China was extremely disturbed about it, and churning out fresh provocative statements almost on daily basis, launching psychological and propaganda war, war of words, and resorting to every possible means short of war to put pressure on India to withdraw its troops. The Indian side on the other side has been relatively balanced, but firm in its stance, making very few statements, and was globally appreciated for its diplomatic maturity. No one bought the idea of India being an aggressor. India proved that it could physically resist China when its national interest demands so, and it also honors the security arrangement promised to Bhutan by physical action.Chinese efforts to establish bilateral talks with Bhutan, including financial allurement (Purse Diplomacy) did not materialize. India and Bhutan stood by each other and could resist Chinese aggressive activity. Chinese efforts to involve Nepal also resulted in response from their Deputy Prime Minister expressing unwillingness to take sides. Japanese Ambassador in New Delhi also said that there should be no attempt to change status quo on the ground by force.Vietnam has stood up earlier against China as well as US for its national interest. The Doklam episode will encourage countries like, Mongolia (Visit of Dalai Lama), Singapore( trade issues), Srilanka ( Hambantota Port), Myanmar( Dam construction), and Japan( East China Sea/Senkakuislands) to stand up to China for various issues of divergences, and cause others like Philippines, to reconsider their options to give away their strategic choices.China in last few years has been on island grabbing spree using ‘Incremental Encroachment’ as part of ‘Active Defence’ Strategy’, with its economic and military clout, using ‘Purse Diplomacy’ with some countries and ‘Infrastructure Diplomacy’ with others. In some cases the disagreements amongst some countries have become quite pronounced due to unfair deals. Singaporehad a strong interest in ensuring navigation in South China Seas is not restricted. Mongolia displayed the temerity of hosting the Dalai Lama, despite Chinese opposition.The bigger lesson is that no sovereign country should be pushed to take sides, and if it is done aggressively by any stronger power, the nation which is being pushed will be forced to seek security and other interests elsewhere, in terms of various other partnerships.Question 4 (SCMP)With India insisting that China should respect the 2012 understanding on tri-junctions, which specifically said “the tri-junction boundary points between India, China and third countries will be finalised in consultation with the concerned countries,” do you think it will further delay the border talks between China and Bhutan? Does it mean India will have to be directly involved as the third party in Sino-Bhutanese border talks in the future?Answer 4 by Major General S B AsthanaAs per the lay of the ground, the resolution of border dispute of China and Bhutan especially at triangle/ junction points, is closely linked and cannot be done in isolation. At Doklam plateau the location of Tri-junction as per India supported by Bhutan is Batang La, whereas China contends it to be at Gyemochenon Jampheri Ridge, which amounts to an encroachment of 7-8 km. These issues cannot be resolved in isolation. If there is political will to resolve it, then meeting of three delegation will not take any time. The delay is only in making political decision and directing the diplomats to resolve it in time bound manner.Additional PointAlthough there is a contradiction in the manner in which each country has reported it perhaps to amuse their domestic audience, and both sides can claim it to be a diplomatic achievement. It is a welcomed step towards peace and tranquilityalong the borders, hence which side blinked first or had an upper hand is not relevant, although both will claim it. This resolution has ensured that there has been no exchange of bullets, and India and China as responsible nations have been able to resolve their differences peacefully on Doklam Standoff. It also ensured that both the countries found a peaceful solution, with a face-saving gesture to ease tension, without disturbing the core interest of either.

The security threat posed by rising China in Indo-Pacific region has raised fear of possible shift in the world order – that had remained under tight fist of the United States for over a century. China is flexing economic and military muscles that is likely to substitute America’s dominance in international politics. As China crawls to Asia Pacific region, the US has unveiled its new strategy to counter the rise of Communist China.