The Story of Bhutan’s UN Membership — The Diplomat

In this Feb. 10, 1971 file photo, Indian Representative to the United Nations Samar Sen address a U.N. Security Council meeting called to discuss Bhutan’s request for admission to the U.N. Aside from Bangladesh, the youngest nation of South Asia born in December 1971, Bhutan is the second-to-last state from the region to gain membership in the United Nations. India is a founding member of the U.N., followed by Afghanistan (1946), Pakistan (1947), Nepal and Sri Lanka (1955), and Maldives (1965). Bhutan finally joined on September 21, 1971. Bhutan’s King Jigme Dorji Wangchuk had formally applied for U.N. membership on December 10, 1970, mainly seeking the sovereign equality the global body offers to small nations like Bhutan. In a letter addressed to then-U.N. Secretary-General U Thant, the king wrote, “The Government and people of Bhutan area acutely aware of the proven value of the United Nations Organization to small and developing nations off the world and consequently attach great importance to membership.” Bhutan’s Permanent Mission to the U.N. holds the same attitude today. Its website says: “The United Nations, with its universal scope and global membership and the spirit of multilateralism that the United Nations fosters, forms an integral part of Bhutan’s foreign policy.” Two months after Bhutan’s formal application to the U.N., on February 10, 1971, the U.N. Security…