Context: Recently, Bhutan and Israel established formal ties with a formal ceremony in New Delhi where the Ambassadors of these countries to India exchanged agreements.

• The development comes two days after Israel and Morocco agreed to normalize ties in a deal brokered with assistance from the USA.
• However, the two sides will not be setting up embassies in Thimphu (capital of Bhutan) and Tel Aviv (city in Israel), and will coordinate through their missions in Delhi.

Bhutan's Foreign Policy

• India's Role: Bhutan's foreign relations till date are mostly under the guidance of India, with which Bhutan had official diplomatic relations from 1949.
• The basis for bilateral relations between India and Bhutan was formed by the Indo-Bhutan Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1949.
• However, Article 2 of the treaty critically gave India a role in guiding Bhutan’s foreign policy. Hence, some alterations were made in the treaty in 2007. As per the new treaty, Bhutan can import arms as long as Indian interests are not harmed and there is no re-export of the weapons, either by the government or individuals.
• It became a member of the United Nations (UN) in 1971.
• However it does not have diplomatic ties with any of the five permanent members of the UN security council.
• Bhutan has recently established ties with Germany, which was its first new formal relationship since 2013.
• The country has restricted number of diplomatic relations to 54 countries and the European Union.

Impacts on the countries

• Until now, Israel and Bhutan have not had formal ties, the two sides cooperated on development activities and agricultural training and Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation MASHAV has trained hundreds of Bhutanese youth since 2013.

The establishment of diplomatic relations would

• Open the path to greater cooperation and further strengthen relations between the two countries and peoples.
• Create new avenues for cooperation between the two countries in water management, technology, human resource development, agricultural sciences and other areas of mutual benefit.

Israel’s growing clout

• Israel’s circle of recognition is growing and expanding.
• The establishment of relations between Israel and the Kingdom of Bhutan will serve as another milestone in deepening its ties in Asia.
• Recently, Morocco became the fourth Arab country, after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan, to settle differences with Israel and normalise the relations.