Bhutan is not going to say anything Don't forget that India has station troop in Bhutan and the present king just have to look back in history and see what happened to Sikkim when she refuse to bent to India will . He was removed and Sikkim is annexed by India
Beside India contribute significant loan and grant to Bhutan just like Tibet Those country in Himalaya is not economically viable and need tremendous infusion of money
There is no more talk between China and India now. Are you oblivious to this?. I don't advocate war but I have foreboding feeling it will come to that India left China with no choice!
Unless she climbed down and use Bhutan to save face and spin the climbed down as Bhutan request
Sofar Bhutan hasn't said anything other than that website! All those wishful thinking aside
I quote another politician Piere Elliot Trudeau
When you live next to an elephant you will be crushed if you don't behave
Yes, India has troops in Bhutan, but I severely doubt India will sponsor a coup/invasion against the King and the democratically elected parliament in Bhutan.
There are too many drawbacks to such a situation, particularly since China will automatically oppose India. And everyone in the world would side with China over India because:
1. China is way more important than India
2. Plus India would clearly be in the wrong if it supported a coup or invasion
Plus you will see internal Indian dissent, because there is no way that Modi can spin something like an invasion of Bhutan as anything other than being a colonial imperialist aggressor.
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On your second point about money, actually have a look at how much India contributes. $1billion per year is chump change to either India or China, as Bhutan has less than 1million really poor people. But China does need to be ready to tide over Bhutan's economy, when they decide to move out of India's orbit.
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Bhutan isn't saying anything because they do feel squeezed between China and India. But what we see is that Bhutanese attitudes are growing more hostile towards India, every day. And the longer this goes on with India/China escalating, the more incentive Bhutan has to demand India remove its troops. Remember that a neutral and independent Bhutan is the best course for them, because they can extract the maximum benefits from both China and India, and therefore not be overly dependent (or squeezed) by either country.
Here is yet another article , which is from the New York Times from last week.
Squeezed by an India-China Standoff, Bhutan Holds Its Breath
Public opinion in Bhutan is steadily moving in favour of more independence and escaping Indian influence, so that Bhutan can establish better relations with China. India is trying to stop Bhutan from linking up economically with China. But a healthy trade and investment relationship between China and Bhutan is the natural state of affairs, given that they are neighbours.
Remember that Doklam is barren land, which strategically is not that useful in itself. And in time, we can expect Bhutan to move away from India and settle its borders with China.
So in summary, there is no need to rush things with an actual conflict that would create unnecessarily ill-will.
