State Visit of Prime Minister of India to Bhutan | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
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State Visit of Prime Minister of India to Bhutan

Posted 23 Mar 2024

2 min read

  • Key highlights of visit
    • Prime Minister of India became the first foreign government leader to receive Bhutan’s highest civilian award, ‘Order of the Druk Gyalpo’
    • India will provide Rs.10,000 crore as financial support to Bhutan over next five years to bolster cooperation in areas like energy, space etc.
    • Establishing two rail links including Kokrajhar-Gelephu and Banarhat-Samtse to improve connectivity.
    • Both sides look forward to commissioning of 1020 MW Punatsangchhu-II hydropower project in 2024.

 

  • Challenges in India-Bhutan Relationship
    • Issues in Hydropower trade, i.e. not able to fairly negotiate power tariff.
    • Bhutan acting as Hideout for militants in North-East.
    • Increased financial burden on Bhutan as India moved away from 60:40 model (60% grant, 40% loan) to 30:70 model.
    • Delay in completion of projects by India e.g. Punatsangchhu II.

 

  • Implications of increasing China’s role in Bhutan for India
    • Bhutan-China negotiated Dhoklam border deal will have Security implications for India, due to its close proximity to Siliguri Corridor.
    • Improved relationship with China can impose threat to India’s Economic and Energy trade relationship with Bhutan.
    • Close ties with China can impact traditional pro-India foreign policy of Bhutan.
  • Tags :
  • India- Butan
  • China’s role in Bhutan
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