New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accepted an invitation from his Bhutanese counterpart Tshering Tobgay to visit the neighbouring nation next week during bilateral talks on Thursday, the Ministry of External Affairs introduced on Friday. Tobgay is at present in India for his first abroad visit after assuming workplace in January this yr.
According to an official assertion, each leaders reviewed the progress in numerous areas of bilateral partnership, together with infrastructure growth, connectivity, vitality, hydropower cooperation, folks to folks exchanges and growth cooperation. PM Modi and Tobgay reaffirmed their dedication to additional strengthen the particular and distinctive India-Bhutan friendship.
“Glad to meet my friend and PM of Bhutan @tsheringtobgay on his first overseas visit in this term. Had productive discussions encompassing various aspects of our unique and special partnership. I convey heartfelt thanks to His Majesty the King of Bhutan and @PMBhutan for inviting me to visit Bhutan next week,” mentioned PM Modi on X.
The Bhutanese Prime Minister conveyed his deep appreciation for India’s function as a dependable, trusted and valued accomplice in Bhutan’s developmental priorities, and prolonged an invitation to his Indian counterpart to visit Bhutan next week, which the latter accepted.
In November final yr, Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck paid an official visit to India and travelled to the Assam, New Delhi and Maharashtra. He and PM Modi held discussions on all the gamut of bilateral cooperation and regional and world problems with mutual curiosity.
Bhutan PM’s visit to India
Tobgay is anticipated to maintain wide-ranging talks with President Droupadi Murmu during his five-day visit to India. He is accompanied by a delegation comprising Bhutan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Employment, and senior officers.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday accepted the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Bhutan on extending cooperation within the area of vitality effectivity. The Cabinet additionally cleared the signing of an settlement between the Bhutan Food and Drug Authority (BFDA) and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for cooperation within the space of meals security.
“India and Bhutan enjoy exemplary ties of friendship and cooperation, based on trust, goodwill and mutual understanding at all levels. The visit of the prime minister of Bhutan will provide an opportunity to the two sides to review the progress in our unique partnership and to discuss ways and means to expand the enduring ties of friendship and cooperation between India and Bhutan,” the MEA mentioned in an earlier launch.
Bhutan-China border dispute
In January, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra travelled to Bhutan on a three-day journey, within the first high-level visit from New Delhi after the formation of the brand new authorities below Tobgay. The Bhutan PM’s visit to India comes towards the backdrop of China and Bhutan an expeditious decision of their festering boundary row that would have main implications for India’s safety pursuits.
Around 5 months again, Bhutan’s then-Foreign Minister Tandi Dorji held talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing. A Chinese readout on the talks mentioned Bhutan firmly abides by the one-China precept and stands prepared to work with China for an early settlement of the boundary subject and advance the political course of of creating diplomatic relations.
In October 2021, Bhutan and China signed an settlement on the “three-step roadmap” to expedite negotiations to resolve their boundary dispute. The signing of the pact got here 4 years after the Indian and Chinese armies had been locked in a 73-day stand-off on the Doklam tri-junction after China tried to lengthen a highway within the space that Bhutan claimed belonged to it.
(with inputs from businesses)
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