Tshering Tobgay. (File photo)
New Delhi: The prime minister of Bhutan, Tshering Tobgay, will be on a five-day official visit to India from Thursday to Monday (March 14 to March 18). He is visiting India at the invitation of the prime minister, Narendra Modi. The upcoming visit is Tobgay’s first overseas visit after assuming office in January 2024.
Bhutan’s foreign and external trade minister, energy and resources minister, industry minister, and senior officials from the Himalayan kingdom will accompany Tobgay.
During the visit, the Bhutanese prime minister will call on the president, Droupadi Murmu, and hold bilateral talks with Modi. India’s foreign minister, S Jaishankar, and other officials will call on the Bhutanese leader.
Tobgay will also visit Mumbai during his India visit.
In a statement, India’s foreign ministry said Thimphu and New Delhi share “exemplary ties” of friendship and cooperation, based on trust, goodwill, and mutual understanding “at all levels”. It said, “The visit of the prime minister of Bhutan will provide an opportunity for the two sides to review the progress in their unique partnership and to discuss ways and means to further the enduring ties of friendship and cooperation between India and Bhutan.”
It may be recalled that in January, India’s foreign secretary, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, went to Bhutan for a three-day trip, as India Sentinels had reported then. The visit was seen as significant as it came amid reports that Bhutan is close to finalizing an agreement with China to demarcate the disputed border between the two countries.
India views an expeditious resolution of the festering boundary row between Thimphu and Beijing may have implications for India’s security interests, especially after the Doklam stand-off 2017.
