Indian Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane held a telephonic conversation with his Bhutanese counterpart Batoo Tshering on Monday, weeks after Bhutan and China held boundary talks. The two chiefs discussed “issues of bilateral defense cooperation," reads a tweet by the Indian Army, without giving any details regarding the context of the talks. 

Both Bhutan and India share close security cooperation, and the former even hosts some Indian army personnel posted in its territory under special agreements. The countries regularly consult each other on security and boundary issues. 

The call came after Bhutan and China--the two countries do not share diplomatic relations--had discussed the roadmap to expedite boundary talks and agreed to maintain peace and tranquility along the border till the final settlement of their dispute. 

Earlier this month, media reports also claimed that China has been constructing three villages inside the Bhutanese territory. China has held several rounds of boundary talks with both India and Bhutan separately, with little success to iron out differences. 

In the case of Bhutan, reports say China has even offered large concessions to Bhutan in its north-central sector in exchange for small western areas of Doklam. However, Bhutan has reportedly rejected the offer citing security concerns of India--with which it shares close security cooperation-- in the western part. 

Doklam, the place of the 2017 China-India standoff, is a trijunction area border area touching all India, Bhutan, and China.