The external affairs ministry on Tuesday said India was in close touch with Bhutan on Doklam and reaffirmed the stated position that tri-junction points would be determined in consultation with Thimphu and Beijing.

Doklam, located at a tri-junction of India, China and Bhutan, had witnessed a standoff in 2017 when China attempted to build a road there.

The ministry statement came after Bhutanese Premier Lotay Tshering’s recent interview to a Belgian newspaper was interpreted by some in the Indian media as Thimphu cosying up to the Chinese.

Tshering had subsequently told a Bhutanese newspaper that he had said nothing new in the interview and that there was no change in Thimphu’s stand on Doklam.

However, Doklam dominated foreign secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra’s media briefing on the ongoing India visit by Bhutan’s monarch, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.

In his interview to La Libre, Tshering had said: “Doklam is a junction point between India, China and Bhutan. It is not up to Bhutan alone to solve the problem. We are three. There is no big or small country, there are three equal countries, each counting for a third.

“We are ready. As soon as the other two parties are also ready, we can discuss. India and China have problems all along their border. We are therefore waiting to see how they will resolve their differences.”

Kwatra, asked whether this had come up during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s talks with the Bhutanese king, said the discussion covered the entire gamut of India-Bhutan cooperation and issues of national and mutual interest, indicating that Doklam had indeed come up.