evidence: Bhutan shared ancient religious, cultural and economic ties with Tibet. However, with China’s forced annexation of Tibet, the buffer between communist China and Bhutan was gone. The border dispute between the two began in the 1950s when China started claiming Bhutanese territory by issuing new maps. In the 1959 military campaign against Tibetans, China also seized control over eight Bhutanese enclaves in Tibet.[i] Following this, Bhutan severed its Ties with the Chinese controlled Tibet and reoriented its economic routes towards India. Since Bhutan and Tibet had not demarcated their border, after the Chinese annexation of Tibet, this led to severe Chinese incursions into Bhutan, mainly in 1967, 1979, 1983 and 2017.[ii] The disputed areas include the north-western and central Bhutan involving Samtse, Haa, Paro and Wagdue Phodrang districts, respectively, covering 764 sq. km.[iii] The Doklam plateau in north-western Bhutan, near the India-Bhutan-China trijunction, became a flashpoint between the armies of India and China in 2017.