Word: bhutan
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...Indians, who are no longer openly cordial to Peking but are still determined to be correct, are disturbed by the rumblings to the north. They fear that if the Reds rout the tribesmen, the Khambas might seek refuge in India or the buffer states of Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan between India and China, providing China with a pretext for extending the fighting beyond Tibet into areas that Peking already claims as Chinese. Or, if the revolt spreads to include other Tibetans, the Reds might be driven to pouring in troops to put down the uprising, and force through the Communization...
...Chinese Communists conquered Tibet, and slowly the centuries began to topple in on the states that form a buffer between Red China and India. In Bhutan the age of the wheel began. In Nepal the politics became as complicated as the most confused European parliamentary coalition. History even came to Sikkim...
Shortly before the Chinese Communists seized Tibet, the Bhutan government closed its northern borders. But having no army or frontier guards, the Bhutanese were unable to prevent numbers of Tibetans from crossing into Bhutan. Many of these uninvited visitors turned out to be Chinese in Tibetan clothing. On the other side of the mountains, Red China is building a road toward Bhutan. To strengthen his government the King recently set up a Central Advisory Council composed of elders elected by tiny villages. Explained Jigme: "We have begun to sow a few seeds of democracy...
...Museum Piece. At the same time, he justified Bhutan's continued isolation: "Almost 98% of Bhutanese own their own farms. If we opened our country to foreign aid now, India, and perhaps even Red China, would rush in, overwhelm us and reduce our people to a servant class...
India's Prime Minister Nehru, mindful of northern frontiers with Red China, calls Bhutan's isolationism ostrichlike. No hand at joining democratic alliances himself, Nehru is annoyed at not having been able to ally Bhutan with India as closely as he has Nepal. A trickle of aid ($150,000 a year) flows into Bhutan from India, not enough for modern services and education, or realistic defense. But there are signs that modern progress may yet penetrate Bhutan. Said Mr. Jigme last week: "We can't remain a museum piece...