Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani met Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Prime Minister Dasho Tshering Tobagy in Thimpu on Sunday. During this time, he also announced the signing of an agreement to build a 570 MW green hydro plant in Bhutan and spoke of cooperation in infrastructure development in the neighboring country. Adani Group is keen to work together on hydro and other infrastructure projects in Bhutan, he said.
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Why are Indo-Bhutan relations important?
In fact, relations between India and Bhutan are very important, as Bhutan is not only our neighboring country, it shares its borders with India as well as China. Therefore, from a strategic point of view, Bhutan is in a very important position, therefore, considering China, Bhutan is a helpful country for diplomatic balance. Additionally, Bhutan also strongly supports India and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiatives on the ‘Global South’ and cooperation between the two countries continues in energy, space, agriculture and digital sectors.
Trade between India and Bhutan…
Not only this, trade relations between India and Bhutan are also very good and India is Bhutan’s largest trading partner. Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in the country (since 2014), trade between the two countries has tripled. The trade between the two countries was US$ 484 million in 2014-15, which increased to US$ 1615 million in 2022-23. Additionally, India is the largest investor in Bhutan, accounting for 50 percent of Bhutan’s total foreign direct investment (FDI). Bhutan currently has around 30 FDI companies operating in several sectors including banking and manufacturing. At present around 50,000 Indian workers are also present in Bhutan.
India-Bhutan Hydropower Cooperation…
Cooperation between India and Bhutan in the field of hydropower has also been going on for a long time. India has so far built four projects in Bhutan, generating 2136 MW of electricity. Apart from this, two projects of 1020-1020 MW are under construction, one of which is expected to start generating power in the year 2024 itself.
This is how India-Bhutan came closer…
The present central government is also making continuous efforts to maintain good relations between the two countries. After winning the elections in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to Bhutan as his first foreign trip. After this, even after winning the election for the second time in 2019, he went to Bhutan in August 2019. Recently, in March 2024, PM Modi also visited Bhutan. On the other hand, Bhutan has also given great importance to its relations with India and in the year 2021 PM Narendra Modi was awarded Bhutan’s highest civilian honor ‘Order of the Druk Gyalpo’ and it is worth mentioning that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is from Bhutan he is the first foreign national to receive the highest honour. . Bhutanese leadership has attended all three swearing-in ceremonies of PM Modi since 2014, which is proof enough to show the bilateral relations between India and Bhutan.
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