Bhutan

Bhutan became a member of the United Nations in 1971. Bhutan does not have diplomatic relations with any of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, including the United States. Although Bhutan and the United States have never established formal diplomatic relations, the two countries maintain warm, informal relations via the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India, and Bhutan's Mission to the United Nations in New York. The U.S. Government annually brings several Bhutanese participants to the United States through its International Visitors, Humphrey Fellows, and Fulbright Programs. Bhutan participates in the South Asia Regional Initiative for Energy Integration (SARI/EI), a program sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) that helps countries increase energy security through cross-border trade, clean energy access, and improved energy market practices. Bhutan receives USAID-supported training on a range of disaster management topics. The United States Government is also providing support to Bhutan to fight COVID-19 and its economic impacts. Bhutan also receives State Department-supported assistance to implement programs to counter trafficking in persons and to support Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programming. Bhutanese officials and military officers have attended courses at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies.