New Delhi: In a bid to “cement the bond” between India and Bhutan and infuse new energy in the relationship, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday visited Thimpu where he held talks with his counterpart Dr Lotay Tshering and discussed steps to further expand partnership across several sectors.
PM Modi along with Dr Tshering jointly inaugurated the Isro-built ground station that will help Bhutan use transponders of the satellite. They also inaugurated the Mangdechhu hydroelectric project and launched the RuPay Card. Bhutan will be second country after Singapore to use the RuPay card.
“I am very happy to launch the RuPay card in Bhutan. This will help improve our ties in digital payment, trade and tourism,” said PM Modi while addressing the media after the signing of agreements and conclusion of talks.
A total of ten agreements were signed between the two sides, majority of them in the field of higher education. These included MoUs on cooperation in judicial and legal education; agreements between Royal University of Bhutan and IITs of Kanpur, Delhi and Bombay and NIT Silchar. In addition there was a power purchase agreement between PTC India Limited and Druk Green Power Corporation Limited for sale and purchase of Mangdechhu Power.
There was also Peering Agreement between National Knowledge Network of India (NKN) and Department of Information Technology and Telecom (Druk Research and Education Network) and MoU on cooperation relating to aircraft accident and incident investigation. In addition there was an on the establishment of Satcom Network for the utilization of South Asia Satellite.
Prime Minister Modi assured India’s support to Bhutan in several other fields and said that India’s financial assistance to Bhutan’s Five Year Plan will be based on their priority and desires. He added that joint spiritual legacy and strong people-to-people connect is the strength of India-Bhutan relationship. Mr Modi assured PM Tshering of India’s help to build a multi-disciplinary super specialty hospital in Bhutan. To help Bhutan households access clean fuel, PM Modi announced increase in LPG supply from 700 mt to 1000 mt.
Giving details of the talks between the two sides, Foreign Secretary Mr Vijay Gokhale said that India’s focus has been to help improve economy and development in Bhutan. He highlighted that the maximum number of agreements were in the field of education to improve youth connect between the two sides.
