Opening Remarks by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh at the media briefing in Bagdogra on his return from Bhutan Opening Remarks by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh at the media briefing in Bagdogra on his return from Bhutan
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  • Opening Remarks by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh at the media briefing in Bagdogra on his return from Bhutan

Opening Remarks by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh at the media briefing in Bagdogra on his return from Bhutan

I have just concluded a most successful visit to Bhutan, our closest and most friendly neighbour.

I was received with extraordinary warmth and the legendary Bhutanese hospitality.

In my audience with His Majesty the King, His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo and my discussions with Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley, I reaffirmed India’s strong and abiding commitment to the further strengthening of India-Bhutan relations. I conveyed India’s deep appreciation to the personal guidance given by his Majesty the Fourth King of Bhutan to the consolidation of our relations during the last 34 years.

I was honoured to have been given the opportunity to address the Joint Session of the Parliament of Bhutan.

Bhutan’s transition to a constitutional democratic monarchy has created new and limitless opportunities for the further intensification and diversification of our partnership. We look forward to establishing close and productive ties between our parliamentarians and democratic institutions.

As part of His Majesty’s vision of greater economic integration with India, we will substantially increase our development cooperation with Bhutan. Our economic engagement with Bhutan during the next five years is expected to be of the order of Rs.10,000 crore. This will be utilized both for our assistance to Bhutan’s Tenth Plan as well as for the development of mega projects in the areas of hydropower and infrastructure.

We have decided to accelerate our cooperation in the hydropower sector. We have agreed to work with Bhutan to raise the target for export of electricity from Bhutan to India from 5,000 MW to 10,000 MW by 2020.

In accordance with Bhutan’s priorities, we will accord greater priority to cooperation in the areas of education and human resource development. We have instituted a new Nehru-Wangchuck Scholarship Programme, which will improve access for Bhutanese students in Indian institutions of higher learning through scholarships and institutional linkages. We will also support Bhutan in the field of ICT to generate employment opportunities.

We have also agreed to increase our cooperation to combat global warming, and protection of the precious Himalayan glaciers.

India and Bhutan share an open border, a visa-free regime and duty-free trade. We have agreed to continue our cooperation for jointly upgrading our border infrastructure and security cooperation, including through the construction of road and rail links for improving our connectivity. The first ever rail link between India and Bhutan from Hashimara to Phuentsholing will become a new milestone in bringing our two people even close together.

In keeping with the tradition of regular visits at the highest level between our two countries, I have invited the King of Bhutan His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, and the Hon’ble Prime Minister Jigmi Y. Thinley to visit India. We look forward to their visit in the near future.

Our relations with Bhutan are an exemplary model of how countries uneven in size and attributes can co-exist peacefully with perfect harmony and mutual respect for each other.

My visit to Bhutan has laid the ground for further expansion of our relations that responds to our mutual aspirations and national interests in the 21st century.