Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: The bonhomie witnessed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Bhutan went beyond symbolism. It reflected the two countries’ willingness to stand by each other’s aspirations in a rapidly altering geopolitical landscape.
Bhutan’s expectation of more aid from India was met when PM Modi doubled the assistance for Bhutan’s next Five-Year Plan. India will also shoulder the financial burden of the Gyalsung Initiative, an integrated training programme for Bhutan’s youth.
New Delhi is readily backing King Jigme’s Gelephu Special Administrative Region Project by financing a railway line that will be connected to the plains of Assam.
However, India’s steadfast commitment to Thimphu is inseparable from its security interests vis-à-vis China, as the Doklam standoff of 2017 had demonstrated.
Dragon in the room
New Delhi has shown respect for Bhutan’s sovereignty by revising the India-Bhutan Friendship Treaty to enable Thimphu to decide its own foreign policy.
In fact, it was India which had facilitated Bhutan’s emergence from isolation by sponsoring its membership of the UN and the World Bank. Bhutan’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay’s visit to New Delhi a week earlier had set the stage for such a second back-to-back visit. The fact that PM Modi went ahead with the visit, despite his busy campaign schedule for Lok Sabha elections and inclement weather in Bhutan nearly derailing the programme, underlines its importance.
The messaging was unequivocal – India stands by Bhutan and the sentiment is fully reciprocated. Bhutan’s development is an integral part of India’s infrastructure initiatives for road, rail, integrated check points, and also for energy exchanges on India’s grid, both of which are pushing sub-regional trade and travel among India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.
While India is mindful of Bhutan’s increased engagement with China, it does not intend to give Beijing space in areas of trade and investment where China has made inroads with India’s other close neighbours.
