Close on the heels of the appointment or “Dakyen” ceremony for Bhutan’s new Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and his Cabinet members on Sunday, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra arrived in Thimphu for a three-day visit. The visit comes amidst other moves by the Modi government within the neighbourhood, including hosting the new Bangladesh Foreign Minister in Delhi next week, hosting the Indian Ocean Conference with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, issuing visas for Pakistani diplomats ahead of elections on February 8 in Pakistan, as well as External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s visit to Nepal earlier this month.
Mr. Kwatra is expected to discuss bilateral ties with his counterpart, meet Prime Minister Tobgay and the newly appointed Foreign Minister D.N. Dhungyel, and call on King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.
Mr. Tobgay, who was last in office from 2013-2018, was elected with a big majority in elections this month, when his People’s Democratic Party (PDP) won 30 of the 47 National Assembly seats. In particular, the Foreign Secretary will discuss how best to take India-Bhutan cooperation forward on the Gelephu mega ‘Mindfulness City” project, the site for which Mr. Kwatra had previewed in July 2023. Discussions on the progress expected between Bhutan and China on the border talks, after they signed a ‘Cooperation Agreement’ on the delimitation and demarcation of their boundary in October 2023, are on the agenda, and Mr. Kwatra is also expected to invite Mr. Tobgay to visit India in the next few weeks.
