Bhutan in MEA Annual Report for the year 2022-23
A. Excerpts from Ministry of External Affairs Annual report related to Bhutan
India and Bhutan share unique and special ties based on mutual goodwill, trust and people-to-people contacts. Over the years, the bilateral relations have expanded to include a wide range of areas including hydropower, ICT, health, culture, agriculture, space, tertiary education, and digital and financial connectivity etc.
The mutually beneficial cooperation in hydropower sector continued during the year. There was sustained engagement in this area through authority meetings for Punatsangchhu-I and Punatsangchhu-II hydropower project (HEP) to discuss related issues. Secretary (Power) visited Bhutan in November 2022 to review the hydropower cooperation.
Strong development partnership for Bhutan’s development, on its priorities, is an important pillar of India-Bhutan relations. India has committed financial support of Rs. 4500 crore for the 12th Five Year Plan of Bhutan (2018-23), and a ‘Transitional Trade Support Facility’ of Rs. 400 crore. This assistance is funding over 82 large and intermediate projects and 524 High Impact Community Development Programmes (HICDPs) in the areas of infrastructure development, industries, agriculture, e-governance, community development, health, education and capacity building, etc.
The Government of India continued its strong support to Bhutan in its fight against Covid-19. Bhutan was the first country to receive 550,000 doses of the Made in India Covishield vaccines in two phases. Another consignment of COVID-19 medical supplies/Anti-TB drugs was delivered to Bhutan in April 2022 during EAM’s visit.
The 25th Border District Coordination Meeting (BDCM) was held between the Royal Government of Bhutan and the State Government of West Bengal on 28-29 September 2022. BDCM has been held regularly since its inception in 1991 and it is an effective mechanism to discuss security and law & order issues, and to resolve issues of mutual concerns between the two sides.
High Level Exchanges
A number of high-level visits took place during the year signifying the unique bilateral ties between the two countries. On 28-29 April 2022, EAM led a delegation to Bhutan. He met His Majesty the King of Bhutan, His Majesty the Fourth King of Bhutan, Bhutan’s Prime Minister Lotay Tshering and Foreign Minister Tandi Dorji to discuss matters of mutual interest.
His Majesty the King of Bhutan traveled to India from 14-16 September 2022. During the visit he met Prime Minister, and discussed bilateral ties, and ways to further strengthen them. The King of Bhutan also met EAM, National Security Advisor and Foreign Secretary during his stay in India. Bhutan’s Minister of Economic Affairs Lyonpo Loknath Sharma visited India on three occasions in 2022 – (i) in January 2022 in New Delhi for meetings with Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, as well as with Union Minister of Power; (ii) in April 2022 to attend the “Waterways Conclave” in Dibrugarh, Assam, organized by the Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways; and the Bengal Global Business Summit in Kolkata, West Bengal organized by the Confederation of West Bengal Trade Associations; (iii) in July 2022 in New Delhi to attend the 16th Authority Meeting of the Punatsangchhu-II Hydroelectric Power Project and bilateral meetings with Indian Minister of Commerce & Industry; the Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare; and Minister of Coal.
India’s Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare visited Bhutan from 4-7 September 2022 to lead the Indian delegation at the 75th session of the World Health Organisation Regional Committee Meeting (RCM) in Paro. India hosted two side events focusing on Digital Health and Regional Research Platform. Minister of State (MoS) for Health and Family Welfare held a bilateral meeting with the Health Minister of Bhutan, Lyonpo Dechen Wangmo, to discuss bilateral cooperation in health care.
On 29 March 2022 EAM met Foreign Minister Tandi Dorji on the sidelines of 5th BIMSTEC Summit in Colombo. On 19 April 2022, Prime Minister Lotay Tshering virtually addressed the ground breaking ceremony of the Global Centre for Traditional Medicine inaugurated by Prime Minister, and Director General, World Health Organisation Tedros Ghebreyesus.
Chief of Army Staff visited Bhutan from 29 July-01 August 2022, and met His Majesty the King of Bhutan, His Majesty the Fourth King of Bhutan and Chief Operations Officer of the Royal Bhutan Army, to exchange views on taking forward the strong professional bonds between both the Armies. Chief Operations Officer General Batoo Tshering of the Royal Bhutan Army visited India from 28 October-02 November 2022. He attended the passing out parade at Officers’ Training Academy (OTA) Gaya and called on COAS, CDS, CAS and the Defence Secretary during the visit.
Development Partnership
India is a major development partner of Bhutan, providing more than 80% of grant support received by Bhutan from its development partners. For the 12th Five Year Plan of Bhutan (2018 - 2023), Government of India has committed an amount of Rs. 4500 crores, comprising Rs. 2800 crores of Project Tied Assistance (PTA), Rs. 850 Crores of High Impact Community Development Project (HICDP) Assistance and Rs. 850 Crores of Program Grant Assistance. In addition, Government of India has also committed assistance of Rs. 400 crores towards Transitional Trade Support Facility and Rs. 100 crores towards Mangdechhu Tariff Adjustment Facility.
From 01 January to 30 November 2022, Government of India released an amount of Rs. 1416. 264 crores to the Royal Government of Bhutan, taking India’s total release of its committed assistance to 80.3%. The bilateral Project Monitoring Committee (PMC) held its second meeting of the 12th Five Year Plan from 09 - 13 July 2022, to oversee the progress of various development cooperation projects.
In 2022, many India-funded PTA and HICDP projects were inaugurated. On 11 November 2022, the historical Wangduephodrang Dzong, reconstructed with Indian assistance of Rs. 100 crores, was inaugurated by His Majesty the King of Bhutan. During EAM's visit to Bhutan in April 2022,
Government of India funded development cooperation projects viz. four lane Jungshina Chubachu highway, Thimphu, the Bajo Khuruthang Highway, Punakha and a Bus terminal in Bumthang were inaugurated.
Other major inaugurations included the sports stadium at Paro, infrastructure at College of Language and Cultural Studies at Trongsa, Simtokha Roundabout at Thimphu, and Dhamdhum Bridge in Samtse.
Hydropower Cooperation
Out of Bhutan’s total hydropower generation capacity of 2326 MW, nearly 2136 MW generation capacity has been built with India’s assistance. Government of India has assisted in construction and commissioning of 336 MW Chukha HEP, 60 MW Kurichu HEP, 1020 MW Tala HEP and 720 MW Mangdechhu HEP. At present, construction is ongoing for 1200 MW Punatsangchhu-I HEP and 1020 MW PunatsangchhuII HEP. With the easing of Covid-19 restrictions, construction for Punatsangchhu-II HEP picked pace, and is expected to be commissioned in 2024.
In order to discuss project construction issues, the 16th Authority meeting for Punatsangchhu-II HEP was held in New Delhi on 19 July 2022, and the 23rd Authority Meeting of Punatsangchhu-I HEP was held in Thimphu on 23 November 2022. During 29 October-01 November, Secretary Power visited Bhutan to review the bilateral hydropower cooperation. He also undertook site visits to Punatsangchhu-I and II HEPs.
India is the sole importer and buyer of electricity from Bhutan. In 2022, the hydropower sector continued to provide more than 40% of Bhutan’s export revenue. India allowed export of 400 MW power to Bhutan in lean seasons of January to March 2022, to help Bhutan meet its lean power deficit.
Space Cooperation
It has emerged as an important area of bilateral cooperation. A month long customised training program on satellite data analysis for Bhutanese officials was conducted. A major Annual Report | 2022 42 achievement was the launch of the India-Bhutan SAT on 26 November 2022 by ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, This is the first satellite jointly developed by India and Bhutan, and it will provide high resolution images to Bhutan for their natural resources management.
Trade and Economic Cooperation
India continued to be Bhutan’s largest trading partner. In FY 2021-22, the bilateral trade was USD 1430 million, of which, India’s exports to Bhutan comprised USD 885 million and India’s imports from Bhutan amounted to USD 545 million. During AprilSeptember 2022, the bilateral trade amounted USD 796 million with USD 558 million of exports to Bhutan and USD 238 million of imports from Bhutan. The major commodities imported by Bhutan from India are (a) petrol & diesel (b) passenger cars (c) rice (d) wood charcoal (e) cellphones. Both governments continued to engage in taking measures to facilitate trade and mutual investments.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan (RMA) signed an agreement on 16 November 2022 to enable the RMA to avail an additional currency swap amount of upto USD 200 million, equivalent in INR, from the RBI. The swap agreement will help Bhutan in managing the INR liquidity and also in promoting trade and investment between the two countries.
In line with the special and friendly relationship between India and Bhutan, the Government of India made a number of trade concessions for Bhutan during 2022, such as: (i) lifting the restriction on import of potato only from Bhutan (ii) allowing the import of fresh wholly produced ginger from Bhutan (restricted item) (iii) supplying 10,000 litres of Nano Urea / Nano Nitrogen Fertilizer (Liquid) to Bhutan at a special concessional rate (iv) supplying 111,000 MT of coal to Bhutan (v) permitting the export of wheat, wheat flour, and sugar to Bhutan (despite the export ban in India), and (vi) allowing the import of 17,000 MT of fresh (green) arecanut every year from Bhutan without the Minimum Import Price (MIP) condition.
India and Bhutan are working towards recognition of the equivalence of special food related measures, with the objective of facilitating Bhutanese export of food and agri/livestock products to India. In this connection, a three-member delegation from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) visited Bhutan from 25-29 July 2022 in order to study and assess the official food control system of Bhutan.
To give a push to bilateral start-up cooperation, initiatives were undertaken for connecting Bhutanese start-up ecosystem with the Government of Karnataka, and with the Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum (EMC) of the Delhi Government. To promote Madhya Pradesh tourism in Bhutan, outreach events and familiarisation visit for six Bhutanese delegates to Madhya Pradesh was organized in October 2022.
Education and Capacity Building
Over 1,100 scholarships are being provided annually by India to Bhutanese students for studying in India, in a wide range of disciplines including medicine, pharmacy, engineering, etc. under various Scholarship Schemes. These include Undergraduate Scholarship under Project Tied Assistance, Nalanda University Scholarships, ICCR UG Engineering Scholarships, India-Bhutan Friendship Scholarship at IIT Kanpur, Ambassador’s Scholarship etc. Additionally, Bhutanese students have also been availing scholarships under ICCR, AYUSH, SAARC, BIMSTEC Schemes, along with those offered by various Indian institutions. In 2022, on popular demand, the slots of ICCR Undergraduate Engineering Scholarship and Nalanda University Scholarship were increased from 20 to 25 and from 05 to 30 respectively for the Bhutanese students. In 2022, 8 Bhutanese scholars were awarded India Science Research Fellowship (ISRF) by Indian National Science Academy, for undertaking research at premier Indian institutions.
India is Bhutan’s main partner in the capacity building of government officials and professionals/entrepreneurs in various fields. Approximately 20 Bhutanese civil service officers get training at the premier Indian administrative and special training institutions and academies every year. Bhutan is allotted 325 inperson training slots for upgrading administrative and technical skills of government officials and private sector employees. At the request of the Royal Government of Bhutan, a special customised ITEC progamme for training 100 Bhutanese young entrepreneurs at the prestigious Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), Ahmedabad started in September 2022. In March 2022, three Bhutanese youth joined the St. Stephen’s Young Leaders Fellowship Programme sponsored by the Ministry under ITEC. India has also been extending support to Bhutanese academic institutions by deputing lecturers at the request of Royal University of Bhutan under special arrangements.
Other milestones this year includes the successful completion of a capacity building program for Bhutan’s judiciary, training of Bhutan police personnel, diplomats, training of 40 DeSuups (volunteers) in International Financial Reporting Standards.
Culture
India and Bhutan have historical and cultural linkages nurtured by vibrant people-to-people contacts. This is sustained by active bilateral cultural cooperation. In November 2022, a 5-day familiarization tour to visit the Buddhist circuit in India was organized by the Ministry of Tourism, for the winners of the India @75 Amrit Mahotsav inter school quiz competition, conducted by the Embassy of India in Thimphu.
A slew of India@75 Amrit Mahotsav cultural events were organized by the Embassy of India Thimphu in partnership with Bhutanese organisations to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Indian Independence. An India-Bhutan cultural cooperation duet song titled “Tho Dha Tshoem” was released by the Embassy on 01 July 2022. The Embassy organised a reception to celebrate 75 years of India’s independence, with dignitaries and friends from Bhutan. Events including lecture and quiz competition on Buddhism, run for unity, lecture on Ayurveda for mental well-being, celebration of the 400th Birth Anniversary of Assam’s legendary war hero Lachit Barphukan, were held with participation of people from Bhutan.
Miscellaneous
Bhutan ratified the Framework Agreement of International Solar Alliance (ISA) on 31 August 2022.
Two diplomats from Bhutan attended the six-month Induction Training Programme (ITP) along with IFS officer-trainees of the 2021 batch from March 2022 to September 2023.
ICCR conferred the Distinguished Alumni Award for the year 2021 to Mr. Sonam Dorji (Bhutan) on
26 May 2022.
India has supplied COVID related essential drugs, test kits, protection gear, etc., to over 150 countries. More than half of this supply was on a non-commercial basis. In recent months, India has supplied drugs, test kits, protection gear to Bhutan.
India facilitated the supply of Anti-TB drugs to 11 neighbouring countries and Island nations including Bhutan.
B. Budget allocation to Bhutan under Technical and Economic Cooperation
| Technical and Economic Cooperation (TEC) Heads | Allocation (In Rs cr) | % of Total TEC Allocation |
| Bhutan | Grant | 1560.01 | 33.57 % |
| Loan | 706.23 |
| Total | 2266.24 |
C. Details of Incoming Visits by Heads of State / Heads of Government / Vice Presidents / Foreign Ministers and Equivalent to India in 2022-23
| Sl No | Visit | Date |
| 1. | Visit of H.E. Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, King of Bhutan | 14-16 September 2022 |
D. Details of Outgoing Visits by President / Vice President / Prime Minister / EAM in 2022-23
| Sl No | Visit | Date |
| 1. | Visit of EAM Minister to Bhutan | 29-30 April 2022 |
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