Politics

17 October 2025
New Delhi will pay for the construction of rail lines totaling 89 kilometers between India and Bhutan, which will be the latter's first such line. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Yuji Kuronuma)
Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida greet Bhutan's King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema in front of Thai royal aircraft at Paro International Airport, Bhutan, on April 25. (Photo by The Royal Household Bureau of Thailand)
International relations

Thai king's state visit to Bhutan sets new diplomatic tone for his reign

Choice of Himalayan kingdom seen as nod to history and Thailand's role on world stage

4 May 2025
Maha Vajiralongkorn, Thailand's king, is expected to take on a larger role in royal diplomacy.
International relations

Thai king heads to Bhutan for 1st official overseas visit in 8-year rule

Vajiralongkorn avoids visiting major powers to keep relations steady

25 April 2025
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at Paro International Airport in Bhutan on March 22, paying a two-day state visit to the tiny but strategic Himalayan nation also courted by China.
International relations

Modi visits Bhutan to shore up India's position amid Chinese outreach

Thimphu keeping New Delhi 'in the loop' on boundary talks with Beijing, experts say

22 March 2024
Minister of Education and Skills Development Dimple Thapa is the only woman in Bhutan's 10-member cabinet. (Ministry of Education and Skills Development)
Opinion

It is up to Bhutan's women to preserve their place in politics

Country's parties say few qualified females are willing to run for office

18 February 2024
Bhutanese people queue up to cast votes in the national elections in Deothang, Bhutan on Jan. 9.
Politics

Bhutan opposition party wins election amid economic challenges

Former PM Tshering Tobgay's People's Democratic Party set to form government

10 January 2024
Bhutan's King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck arrives to offer prayers at a temple in Guwahati, India, on Nov. 3. His visit to India comes shortly after renewed border talks between Bhutan and China.
International relations

India casts wary eye on revived China-Bhutan boundary talks

Bhutanese king visits India days after foreign minister's rare trip to Beijing

5 November 2023
Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering, left, with Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in New Delhi in 2018: India is the de facto security guarantor of Bhutan, a diplomatic minnow.
Opinion

Bhutan is not giving in to China's hardball diplomacy

Beijing uses talks to deflect attention from territorial encroachments

3 November 2023
Bhutan's capital Thimphu has lots of greenery, even in the center of the city. (Photo by Moyuru Baba)
Climate Change

Carbon-negative Bhutan offers lessons on fighting climate change

Kingdom proves emissions can be offset by focusing on environment over growth

2 October 2022
Founded in the eighth century, Bhutan's Taktshang (Tiger’s lair) monastery hangs from a rock face 900 meters above a valley. Visitors from outside South Asia will need to pay a $200 daily tax to visit the country and see it. (Photo by Phuntsho Wangdi)
Travel & Leisure

Bhutan reopens with $200 tourist tax in test for sustainable travel

Sky-high daily levy worries pandemic-battered tourism operators

23 September 2022
The Merak village, Eastern Bhutan, pictured from the footpath heading towards Sakteng in May 2015: Xi Jinping's expansionism has not spared China's smallest neighbor.
Opinion

China's bullying of tiny Bhutan risks South Asian stability

David and Goliath struggle exposes Beijing's expansionist intent

22 November 2021
Lakes in Bhutan dammed by glacial moraines are at risk of overflowing into the valleys below as ice melts.
Climate Change

Climate change casts shadow on Bhutan with glacial lakes at risk

Danger looms in the mountains as ice melt threatens to flood land downstream

4 September 2021
Residents of Bhutan's capital, Thimphu, fear the possibility of a lockdown as cases continue to rise on the southern border of the kingdom. (Photo by Phuntsho Wangdi)
Coronavirus

India's COVID chaos puts Bhutan's vaccine success at risk

Although 80% of adults have received one dose, supply of boosters in doubt

21 May 2021
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends the launch of the pan-India COVID-19 vaccination drive via video conference in New Delhi on Jan. 16. (Photo courtesy of Government of India)
Coronavirus

Vaccine diplomacy: Indian supplies reach Bangladesh and Nepal

New Delhi's aid shipments come amid China's own COVID outreach to the region

21 January 2021
Bhutan has relaxed its tobacco ban to combat the coronavirus pandemic, whose most worrisome case entered the Himalayan kingdom from across the border. (Photo by Phuntsho Wangdi)
Politics

Bhutan lifts tobacco ban to block COVID spillover from India

After pandemic, Thimphu may ease centuries of control of 'sinful' weed

25 August 2020
The Sakteng wildlife sanctuary lies adjacent to the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, a sensitive region that China also claims. (Photo from the wildlife sanctuary's Facebook account)
International relations

In jab at India, China reiterates claim over Bhutan nature park

Beijing's expanding territorial assertions poised to raise tensions with New Delhi

23 July 2020
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government have their hands full as the pandemic batters an already slumping economy. (Nikkei Montage/Source photo by Reuters) 
Coronavirus

Modi buried under avalanche of COVID-19 cases and 120m jobless

India struggles as slumping economy takes another hit from spreading pandemic

23 May 2020
Indians wait to board a repatriation flight from Kuwait International Airport in Kuwait City, on May 9: There are reports that more than 400,000 Indians worldwide are trying to return home. © AFP/Jiji
Coronavirus

Coronavirus wrecks South Asian migrant livelihoods in Middle East

Some 900,000 stranded workers to test health care systems and economies

20 May 2020
A bridge construction site of the Bar-Boljare highway, pictured in June 2018: for Montenegro any concerns were far outweighed by the potential economic benefit of the new road.
Opinion

For developing world, Belt and Road Initiative is best deal around

China's infrastructure offer supports economic growth in Europe, Africa and Asia

6 May 2020
Pungthang Dewa Chhenbi Phodrang in the western district of Punakha, 75 km from Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, is popular with regional tourists. (Photo by Phuntsho Wangdi)
International relations

Bhutan tourism stung by new fees on visitors from India

Measure aims to curb overcrowding, but threatens hotel sector

20 February 2020
A doctor walks out of an isolation ward at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center in Karachi that was set up as a preventative measure following the coronavirus outbreak.
Coronavirus

Stuck in Wuhan: Pakistani students' cry for help falls on deaf ears

Islamabad fears nation's medical facilities cannot handle coronavirus patients

13 February 2020
Foreign students in Japan are allowed to work in unskilled-labor positions, such as convenience store work, for up to 28 hours per week. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi) 
Japan immigration

Japan intensifies crackdown on student visa overstayers

Number of countries subject to stricter checks to increase tenfold

11 February 2020
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Jan. 30 that Phnom Penh's decision not to evacuate students from Wuhan is a form of "soft diplomacy."
Coronavirus

Hun Sen offers Wuhan visit, while Pakistan resumes China flights

Beijing's clout generates measured responses to the virus crisis with some allies

4 February 2020
Kalika chief Nicholas Pandey expects Nepal to prosper from economic stability and Chinese investment. 
Interview

Nepal's Kalika Group riding high on Chinese investment

China-India rail link among major BRI infrastructure projects

2 February 2020
People walk by a banner aimed at raising awareness of the coronavirus in Islamabad. Pakistan, as of Saturday, does not have a confirmed case of the infection. 
Coronavirus

Coronavirus fears freeze Belt and Road projects in Pakistan

Opposition politicians slam government for not evacuating citizens from Wuhan

1 February 2020
Gotabaya Rajapaksa (in red), Sri Lankan president and former wartime defence chief, with his brothers including Mahinda Rajapaksa (left), former president, waves at his supporters in Colombo during the campaign for the November 2019 presidential election.
International relations

Sri Lanka faces EU ire after government breaks UN war obligations

Rajapaksa's stance risks country losing favored trade status with European bloc

25 January 2020
Despite the fanfare surrounding use of Gwadar port for trade with Afghanistan, experts say the facility has a long way to go before China sees any return on its investment.
Belt and Road

Beijing-backed Pakistan port opens as hub for Afghanistan trade

Gwadar challenges Indian interests in region, but China's ROI remains unclear

23 January 2020
Two months after meeting with Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, left, the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced a new citizenship law that threatens a mass exodus of Muslims to Bangladesh.
International relations

Bangladesh fears Rohingya-like crisis over India citizenship law

Tensions mount as many Indian Muslims fear detention or deportation

16 January 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Pakistan is trying to distance itself from U.S.-Iran tensions, not only to avoid getting caught up in violence but also to keep the Belt and Road infrastructure projects on track. (Photos by Reuters, AP)
Iran tensions

US-Iran tensions challenge Pakistan's balancing act

Islamabad aims to avoid angering Shiites as it protects Belt and Road projects

13 January 2020
The scene in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, on Sept. 20, 2019. Critics wonder if India has since turned this part of Kashmir into a Potemkin village.
International relations

India invites envoys on Kashmir tour that critics call a sham

Modi maneuvers to project normalcy amid international outcry over human rights

10 January 2020