When a list of 43 countries slated for possible travel bans to the US was leaked over the weekend, citizens of one tiny Himalayan nation were left baffled as to why their kingdom was in the “red” column.

Along with North Korea, Iran and Afghanistan, Bhutan – the Buddhist-majority nation of 800,000 people – faces a complete ban on its citizens entering the US.

Known as the Land of the Thunder Dragon, it is nestled high up in the mountains between India and China. It hosted the Prince and Princess of Wales in 2016, and the King in 1998. This year, Ed Sheeran played a concert at the national stadium.

The new travel ban – which has not yet been signed off – is the result of Donald Trump’s executive order in January, which required the State Department to identify countries “for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries”.

The president said he was taking the action to protect American citizens “from aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes”.

The red group, comprising 11 countries including Bhutan, would face the most severe restrictions – a complete ban on their citizens entering the US.