Israel has established diplomatic ties with Bhutan. The agreement did not appear to be related to Israel’s recently established ties with Arab and Muslim countries in the Middle East and Africa. The two nations agreed to work closely on water management, agriculture, health care and other areas, according to the Foreign Ministry.
Israel Bhutan relations refer to its diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Bhutan. Since establishing diplomatic relations, Israel has supported Bhutanese human resource development in areas of agriculture development and food production that have benefited hundreds of Bhutanese youths.
Both the countries maintained a cordial relation despite a lack of formal ties. Israel briefly had a non-resident ambassador to Bhutan in 2010. Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation MASHAV has trained hundreds of Bhutanese youth since 2013.
The establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and Bhutan would create new avenues for economic and technological interaction between the two countries. Bhutan could learn a lot from Israel in water management, technology, and the human resource development sectors. Israel is also home to several world-renowned agricultural research centers that Bhutan could benefit from. As for tourism, Bhutan that limits the number of outsiders who can enter will now likely be more open to Israelis.
Bhutan is a land-locked country with a small geographical area. Its external relations have to be planned and executed very carefully and cautiously because of its geographical position.
Bhutan's foreign relations would gain momentum in its political journey only after it was convinced of the factor of geography. Bhutan's foreign relations till date are mostly under the guidance of India, with which Bhutan had official diplomatic relations from 1949.
Bhutan has been successful in maintaining independent policy during the course of its foreign relations. It has not yet compromised in the matters affecting its national interest.
Bhutan's stand on the Tibet issue is an example of such a cautious and cautious approach, when taking into account their own interests, it maintained that China should give up.
