Except for Bangladesh, the youngest nation of South Asia born in December 1971, Bhutan is the second-to-last state from the area to realize membership within the United Nations. India is a founding member of the U.N., adopted by Afghanistan (1946), Pakistan (1947), Nepal and Sri Lanka (1955), and Maldives (1965). Bhutan lastly joined on September 21, 1971.
Bhutan’s King Jigme Dorji Wangchuk had formally utilized for U.N. membership on December 10, 1970, primarily looking for the sovereign equality the worldwide physique affords to small nations like Bhutan. In a letter addressed to then-U.N. Secretary-Common U Thant, the king wrote, “The Authorities and other people of Bhutan space conscious about the confirmed worth of the United Nations Group to small and creating nations off the world and consequently connect nice significance to membership.”
Bhutan’s Everlasting Mission to the U.N. holds the identical perspective right now. Its web site says: “The United Nations, with its common scope and international membership and the spirit of multilateralism that the United Nations fosters, varieties an integral a part of Bhutan’s international coverage.”
Two months after Bhutan’s formal utility to the U.N., on February 10, 1971, the U.N. Safety Council unanimously voted to favorably advocate Bhutan’s membership at that yr’s twenty sixth Common Meeting. Bhutan was thus formally acknowledged as a U.N. member state on September 21, 1971.
Bhutan’s accession to the United Nations in 1971 was an awesome diplomatic achievement for a small state in South Asia. In the identical decade, overlook becoming a member of the U.N., the Kingdom of Sikkim had misplaced its very nationhood and merged into India in 1975. In 1971, the identical yr that Bhutan turned a U.N. member state, Pakistan misplaced the “East Pakistan” a part of its nation, which turned the impartial state of Bangladesh. Amid the making and breakings of nationhood in South Asia on this tumultuous decade, it was a diplomatic victory for a tiny Himalayan nation like Bhutan to grow to be part of the U.N. physique.
Regardless of the tensions within the area, Bhutan’s entry into the world physique wasn’t part of controversy like close by Nepal’s. Nepal utilized for membership in 1949, however its ambition was delayed for six years primarily owing to the Soviet Union’s veto. Moscow’s obstruction, nonetheless, wasn’t actually about Nepal. The united states was looking for a broader diplomatic deal to win approval for 5 new U.N. member states that have been within the Soviet camp: Hungary, Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, and Mongolia.
This was not the case for Bhutan. Within the February 10, 1971 assembly of the Safety Council, Bhutan’s ally India spoke in favor of its membership utility. To take action, India requested permission to take part in the us dialogue, as New Delhi was not a member on the time. India’s U.N. consultant, Samar Sen, stated that the Safety Council’s “choice to help Bhutan’s candidature… was however a last manifestation of Bhutan’s impartial stature and nationhood.” Sen additionally famous that India “had, at Bhutan’s request, given it as a lot assist as attainable relating to the appliance for United Nations membership.”
In the identical assembly of the us, China’s U.N. Consultant Liu Chieh stated he “had been glad to vote for the admission of Bhutan.” In Liu’s phrases, “Bhutan had had a protracted historical past of independence… though in international relations, it had agreed to be guided by India.” Nevertheless, China right here means the Republic of China (or Taiwan), not the Folks’s Republic of China. The PRC authorities would acquire China’s seat within the U.N. in October 1971 – one month after Bhutan entered the United Nations. Which means Bhutan has been a U.N. member longer than the PRC.
Pakistan, like India, requested and was granted the correct to take part in the us session. Its diplomat, Agha Shahi, additionally voiced his help for Bhutan’s membership and welcomed the nation to the “mainstream of worldwide life.” He added that “Bhutan, though smaller than the opposite nations of the area, performed a priceless function and would, he was positive, preserve harmonious relations with its neighbors within the curiosity of peace and stability.”
Japan, which held a non-permanent seat on the us on the time, additionally authorised Bhutan’s U.N. accession, saying that “Bhutan and Japan have been carefully related by ties of the Japanese Asian civilization,” particularly Mahayam Buddhism.
Different members of the us in 1971 to help Bhutan’s membership included Argentina, Belgium, Burundi, France, Italy, Nicaragua, Poland, Sierra Leone, Somalia, the Soviet Union, and the UK. The session was chaired by the U.S. consultant, Charles Yost, who concluded the session by mentioning that Bhutan “had lengthy prided itself on its cultural traditions and its sturdy sense of nationwide identification.”
Bhutan thus turned the 128th member of the United Nations, with help from rivals just like the U.S. and the Soviet Union, in addition to India and Pakistan. At the moment, the variety of U.N. member states has jumped to 193.
Bhutan’s main achievements within the U.N. embrace its commencement from Least Developed Nation standing in 2023 and its emphasis on “gross nationwide happiness.” Bhutan additionally has a popularity as a voice for inexperienced progress, due to its international picture as a “carbon damaging” nation.
Past the U.N., Bhutan’s international diplomatic engagements stay restricted. Apparently, Bhutan doesn’t have formal diplomatic relations with any of the 5 everlasting U.N. Safety Council members: China, France, Russia, the U.Okay., and the U.S. Bhutan does preserve a Everlasting Mission to the U.N. in New York, the place its U.N. consultant additionally serves as Bhutan’s ambassador to Canada and Brazil.
In the meantime, solely three nations function embassies in Bhutan: India, Bangladesh and Kuwait. Bhutan doesn’t host an embassy of Australia, the nation the place reportedly 1.5 % Bhutanese have migrated.
Within the second week of June 2026, I used to be in Thimphu on my first tour to the guy Himalayan nation. I talked to some tourism entrepreneurs, political figures, and bizarre residents I met there and located that none of them have been involved concerning the few embassies within the Buddhist kingdom of round 800,000 folks.
“Within the age of digital visa and hyperconnectivity, we don’t want bodily embassies of all essential nations,” stated a hotelier based mostly in Paro, Bhutan’s third largest metropolis which hosts the worldwide airport. He added, “Even the U.S. and China don’t have embassies in all United Nations member nations.”