The Bhutan King is on an eight-day visit to India, beginning from November 3
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar received Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck on his arrival in New Delhi on Sunday.
 
Writing a post on X, Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Arindam Bagchi said, “His Majesty the King of Bhutan warmly received by EAM Dr S Jaishankar upon his arrival in New Delhi. His Majesty is on an official visit to India. The visit will further strengthen close bonds of friendship and cooperation with a valued partner.”
 
Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, accompanied by senior officials of the Bhutan government, is on an eight-day visit to India from November 3 to 10, 2023, the MEA said.
 
During the visit, he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi while External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and senior officials of the Indian government will call on him.
 
Earlier, the Bhutan King arrived in Assam on November 3, during which in Guwahati, he visited the famous Kamakhya temple, met the Bhutanese diaspora and attended a cultural programme and dinner hosted by Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria. The Bhutan King also took a jeep safari to the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve during his two-day visit to Assam.
 
India and Bhutan enjoy unique ties of friendship and cooperation, which are characterized by understanding and mutual trust.
 
The visit would provide an opportunity to both the sides to review the entire gamut of bilateral cooperation and to further advance the exemplary bilateral partnership, across diverse sectors, the MEA said.
 
By 2023, Bhutan aims to graduate from the list of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) which would require holistic capacity development of various sectors of the Bhutanese economy.
 
For the 12th Five Year Plan of Bhutan, India is providing an assistance of Rs. 45 billion out of which Rs. 28 billion has been earmarked for Project Tied Assistance (PTA) projects.
 
These projects are spread over various sectors, such as health, education, agriculture, economic development, ICT, infrastructure, urban development, technical and vocational training, judiciary, sports, and capacity building of public servants.
 
The 12th Five Year Plan of Bhutan aims to build a “Just, Harmonious and Sustainable Society through enhanced Decentralisation”. For grassroots development across Dzongkhags and Thromdes, India has committed an amount of Rs. 8500 million for the High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDPs)/Small Development Projects (SDPs).
 
These are short gestation small projects situated in remote parts of Bhutan for creation of infrastructure such as farm roads, livestock centres, water supply and irrigation systems and capacity development at a local level.
 
At present, India is supporting 77 Project Tied Assistance (PTA) projects with an outlay of Rs. 28 billion, 526 High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDP)/Small Development Projects (SDP) at an outlay of Rs. 8.5 billion.
 
Apart from this, India has committed Program Grant development assistance to Bhutan to the tune of Rs 8.5 billion and a transitional Trade Support Facility (TSF) amounting to Rs 4 billion for Bhutan’s 12th Five Year Plan.