The Prime Minister of Bhutan, Lyonchhen Tshering Tobgay, will visit India from August 30 to September 4. During his week-long visit, he will meet Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Indian Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Indian Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, Indian National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon and Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh.
Both sides are expected to discuss a range of bilateral issues including political, security, developmental, economic and cultural cooperation. He is also expected to attend a meeting jointly organised by the three Indian business chambers – ASSOCHAM, FICCI and CII. He will then travel to Hyderabad and meet the Governor of Andhra Pradesh, E. S. Lakshminarasimhan.
This is the first overseas visit by Prime Minister Tobgay after being elected to the post following Bhutan’s second democratic elections held in July 2013. He will be accompanied by a delegation comprising Bhutanese Foreign Minister Lyonpo Rinzin Dorje and senior officials from the Royal Government of Bhutan.
New Delhi and Thimphu share close bilateral ties. The India-Bhutan Friendship Treaty, signed in 1949 and updated in 2007, forms the basic framework of the bilateral relations. India is Bhutan’s largest trade and development partner, and hydropower forms an important sector of cooperation. The King and Queen of Bhutan were the chief guests for India’s Republic Day parade this year, and there have been numerous high level bilateral visits between the two nations this year.