ISRAEL AND BHUTAN ESTABLISH DIPLOMATIC TIES

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Focus: GS-II International Relations

Recently, Bhutan and Israel established formal ties with a formal ceremony in New Delhi where the Ambassadors of these countries to India exchanged agreements.
Recently, in deals brokered by the United States, Israel has established full relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco in the last two months, while Bhutan established ties with Germany, its first new formal relationship since 2013.

The accord between the majority-Jewish Israel and the majority-Buddhist Bhutan follows several years of secret talks with the aim of establishing an alliance, according to the statement from the Foreign Ministry.
The two nations agreed to work closely on water management, agriculture, health care and other areas.
Key areas of cooperation between the two countries would include economic, technological and agricultural development.
The ties between the peoples through cultural exchanges and tourism would also be further enhanced.
Israel has supported Bhutanese “human resource development since 1982, especially in the area of agriculture development that has benefited hundreds of Bhutanese youths, which highlighted the “cordial” relations maintained between the countries despite a lack of formal ties.

Israel is a country in Western Asia, located on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea.
It has land borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan on the east, the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to the east and west, respectively, and Egypt to the southwest.
Israel’s economic and technological center is Tel Aviv, while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, although international recognition of the state’s sovereignty over Jerusalem is limited.
In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a Jewish and democratic state and the nation state of the Jewish people.
The country is a liberal democracy with a parliamentary system, proportional representation, and universal suffrage.
The prime minister is head of government and the Knesset is the legislature.
Israel is a developed country and an OECD member.

Bhutan is a landlocked country in the Eastern Himalayas in South Asia.
It is bordered by the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north and India to the south.
Bhutan is geopolitically in South Asia and is the region’s second-least-populous nation after Maldives.
Thimphu is its capital and the largest city, while Phuntsholing is its financial center.
In South Asia, Bhutan ranks first in economic freedom, ease of doing business and peace and is the least corrupt country in the region as of 2016.
Bhutan is also notable for pioneering the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH).
It continues to be a least developed country, but expects to graduate from this status by 2023.
The government is a parliamentary democracy; the head of state is the King of Bhutan, known as the “Dragon King.”
Hydroelectricity accounts for most of its exports.

-Source: The Hindu