New Delhi: Even as campaigning in India for the Lok Sabha elections is officially underway, Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to Bhutan on Friday (March 22), receiving its highest award, pledging Rs 10,000 crore for the nation’s five-year plan and gaining an endorsement from the Bhutanese king for India’s “bright” future with “him at the helm”.
Modi arrived in Bhutan on Friday morning, with his visit delayed by a day due to snowy weather in Paro, where the airport is located.
There are technically no explicit restrictions on Indian prime ministers making overseas trips after the Lok Sabha elections are announced and when the model code of conduct is in place.
However, the last time that an Indian prime minister had been abroad during this period was in 2009, when Manmohan Singh visited the UK for the G-20 summit on March 31. In May 2018, Modi visited Nepal to pray at the Pashupatinath temple on the day voters in Karnataka were electing their state assembly. The opposition Congress accused him of violating the model of conduct to influence votersbut nothing came of its complaint.
Modi’s visit to Thimphu also comes just after the Bhutanese premier was in India last week.
The highlight of the visit, which foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra termed as a “significant milestone”, was the conferment of Bhutan’s civilian award, the Druk Gyalpo, to Modi.
Five years ago, the United Arab Emirates had unusually announced that it was conferring the ‘Order of Zayed’ to Modi in April 2019, in the middle of campaigning for the Indian general elections.
Modi collected the UAE award just a few months later in August 2019 after winning the elections.
But this time, Modi waited for three years to travel to Bhutan to receive the award after Bhutan’s king announced it in 2021.
After the award was conferred, Bhutan’s king praised the Indian PM, going so far as saying that Modi would need to be at the “helm” for a “bright” Indian future.
The comments were startling as they came against the backdrop of the Indian election season, with the Modi government in the midst of strenuous campaigning to return to power.
“With him at the helm, India’s future is bright. And as I said before, a successful India means a bright future for Bhutan,” he said in Bhutanese.
The PMO was quick to publicise the king’s praise, issuing a press release that emphasised the apparent strides India had made under Modi:
“The citation added that the award also honours India’s rise as a global power under his leadership, and celebrates Bhutan’s special bond with India. Prime Minister Modi’s leadership has set India on the path of transformation, and that India’s moral authority and global influence have grown.”
The Indian prime minister announced that New Delhi will double its allocation for Bhutan’s thirteenth five-year plan compared to the previous one.
“I would also like to announce to my brothers and sisters of Bhutan that the government of India will provide a support of Rs 10,000 crore in this direction in the next five years,” he said in Thimphu.
Besides, India and Bhutan signed seven agreements covering areas of energy, trade, digital connectivity, space and agriculture.
Modi’s visit also took place against the backdrop of Bhutan’s expedited talks with China on resolving their boundary dispute.
Answering questions at a briefing in Thimpu, Indian foreign secretary Kwatra said that the Bhutan-China boundary discussions were “matters between those two countries”.
“Insofar as India’s relations with Bhutan are concerned, as today’s ongoing state visit of the honourable prime minister very clearly signifies, they stand on their own footing and they are independent of relations with other countries,” he said.
Kwatra also underlined that the “core fundamentals” of India’s relationship with Bhutan were “trust” and “sensitivity to each other’s interests and concerns”.
The joint statement issued after the formal talks stated that both sides “agree to continue with our close coordination and cooperation with each other on issues relating to our national interests”.
India has been keenly following Bhutan’s boundary talks with China as some of the disputed areas are adjacent to the crucial Siliguri corridor.
The Wire had reported last week that India had proposed to build a road through Bhutan to connect Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh to Guwahati in Assam.
However, Bhutan had been hesitant due to concerns that this may complicate its ongoing boundary talks with China aimed at demarcating their border.
Beijing has been incrementally encroaching on Bhutan’s borders, a tactic known as “salami slicing”, prompting Thimphu’s urgency in resolving the issue.
