Bhutan plans to build a massive “international city” in an area of over 1,000 sq. km. on its border with Assam, Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck announced to applause from a packed audience of 30,000 at the Changlimathang stadium in Thimpu on December 17, pitching the project as an “economic corridor connecting South Asia with Southeast Asia via India’s northeastern States”.
“Around two billion people live in South Asia,” King Jigme Wangchuck said, thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Government of India for agreeing to build the first India-Bhutan railway line to Gelephu, which would also connect with roadways and border trading and crossing points into Assam and West Bengal, and over time, he said, give Bhutan access to Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Singapore.
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