China and Bhutan on Thursday signed the MoU on a “three-step roadmap” to help speed up protracted boundary talks ongoing for over three decades

China on Friday said the signing of a Sino-Bhutan memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the bilateral boundary dispute will make “significant contributions” to speed up boundary talks while it’s official media blamed India for “standing in the way” of resolving differences with the Himalayan country.

China and Bhutan on Thursday signed the MoU on a “three-step roadmap” to help speed up protracted boundary talks ongoing for over three decades.

The signing was done over video link by Bhutan’s foreign minister Tandi Dorji and China’s assistant foreign minister Wu Jianghao.

China’s ambassador to India, Sun Weidong, and Bhutan’s envoy to India, Maj Gen Vetsop Namgyel, joined the virtual event. The Chinese foreign ministry released a brief statement on the MoU without sharing details.

“China and Bhutan are friendly neighbours linked by mountains and rivers, and the traditional friendship between the two has a long history,” the ministry statement quoted Wu as saying.

“It is expected that the MoU will make a significant contribution to speed up the negotiation on demarcation and promote the process of establishing diplomatic ties between the two countries,” the statement added.

“China will follow Xi Jinping Thought on diplomacy, follow the neighbourhood diplomacy featuring amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness, and be a good neighbour, friend and partner of Bhutan on the principles of equality and peaceful coexistence,” Wu said.

China is a good neighbour, friend and partner of Bhutan, and the two countries should treat each other as equals, co-exist peacefully and seek mutual benefits and win-win results, said Wu.

The Chinese statement quoted Bhutanese foreign minister Dorji as saying that Bhutan will work with China to implement the MoU, unswervingly push forward the negotiation on demarcation and be committed to strengthening bilateral relations.

“The MoU is of historic significance and is the result of years of joint efforts and sincere cooperation between the two sides,” the nationalistic tabloid, Global Times, said in a report on the deal.