In first foreign visit, New Bhutan PM Lotay Tshering to visit India on December 27

The New Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering will visit India on December 27. This is his first foreign visit after taking charge. He took over on November 7 and is the eighth prime minister of Bhutan.

After his victory in the Bhutanese elections, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called Tshering and congratulated him on his win. Modi conveyed to Tshering that India attaches the "highest priority to further strengthening unique ties of friendship and cooperation with Bhutan, which is based on shared interests and values, utmost trust, goodwill and mutual understanding."

Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale was the first Indian official to visit Bhutan to meet the new prime minister. During the meet, the Bhutanese PM said he "is committed to strengthening the special bond of friendship and cooperation shared by the two countries." He assured that “our foreign policy should not change every five years with the change in government.”

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The PM and the foreign secretary also discussed Bhutan’s twelfth five-year plan. India plays a significant role in Bhutan's five-year plans.

This year marks the golden jubilee year of the establishment of diplomatic ties between India and Bhutan and there have been a number of accompanying events. Bhutan Week was celebrated in New Delhi in September, with India's Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu the chief guest at the event.

India is Bhutan's largest trading partner. In 2016, total bilateral trade between the two countries stood at Rs 8,723 crore with total imports being Rs 5528.5 crore (82% of Bhutan’s total imports) and exports recorded as Rs 3205.2 crore including electricity (90% of Bhutan’s total exports).
India also soon plans to commission the 720 MW Mangdechhu hydro-power project on the Mangdechhu river in the Trongsa Dzongkhag district of central Bhutan.

In 2017, a crisis erupted in Doklam near the Bhutan, India, China trijunction when the Chinese army tried to construct a road in the area. This led to a two-month long standoff between Indian and Chinese forces in the region.

Later, during the official visit of the Bhutanese king and queen to India in 2017, President Ram Nath Kovind “conveyed deep appreciation for the King of Bhutan’s personal involvement and guidance and the support provided by Bhutan in addressing the recent situation in the Doklam area”.

India plays an important role in Bhutan's economic development and has constructed three hydroelectric projects (HEP)Bhutan which together generate 1,416 MW — 336 MW by Chukha HEP, 60 MW by Kurichhu HEP and 1,020 MW by Tala HEP — of power.

In April 2014, an inter-governmental agreement was signed between India and Bhutan for the development of four more HEPs under the joint venture model which would together — 600 MW at Kholongchhu, 180 MW at Bunakha, 570 MW at Wangchhu and 770 MW at Chamkharchhu — generate 2,120 MW of power.

Incidentally, after entering office in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first visit abroad was to Bhutan.