King of Bhutan met PM Modi and President Murmu, Discussed Avenues for Expanding Economic Cooperation
5th April, New Delhi: Bhutan's third King Jigme Wangchuck called upon President Draupadi Murmu. This meeting between the two took place at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Earlier, Jigme Wangchuk had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two leaders discussed strengthening bilateral ties in several areas, including economic cooperation. King Wangchuk had also met NSA Ajit Doval. He had paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat.
Wangchuk's visit is taking place at a time when Bhutan's PM had last week described Doklam as a dispute between three countries. When EAM Jaishankar met Wangchuck, he said that this visit would further strengthen the ties between India and Bhutan. Bhutan's Foreign Trade Minister Tandy Dorji and several senior ministers of the royal government have also come to India along with King Wangchuck.
Bhutan launched its first five-year plan for economic development in the 1960s, whose entire funding was done by India. In 2021, the Government of India had opened 7 new trade routes to increase bilateral trade with Bhutan. At the same time, India had given Rs. 4500 crores to Bhutan for their 12th five-year plan.
After the independence of India, there was a treaty between the two countries. It had many provisions, the most important of which was about the dependence of Bhutan in defence and foreign affairs. Over the years, amendments to this treaty have been made but provisions for mutual cooperation and expansion of economic cooperation have stayed intact.
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