{"id":38066,"date":"2023-11-07T08:30:10","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T03:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=38066"},"modified":"2025-04-23T04:17:01","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T22:47:01","slug":"india-bhutan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/india-bhutan\/","title":{"rendered":"India, Bhutan agree to expand connectivity, trade"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in news?<\/li>\n<li>Bhutan-India Relation<\/li>\n<li>Background of India-Bhutan Relationship<\/li>\n<li>Bhutan \u2013 India Economic Cooperation<\/li>\n<li>Bhutan &#8211; India Development Cooperation<\/li>\n<li>Bhutan &#8211; India Hydropower Cooperation<\/li>\n<li>News Summary: India, Bhutan agree to expand connectivity, trade<\/li>\n<li>Key highlights of the visit by King of Bhutan<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Why in news?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, who is on a visit to India, held a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi.<\/li>\n<li>This is significant amid growing concerns over China\u2019s efforts to forge a bond with Thimphu.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Background of India-Bhutan Relationship<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Diplomatic relations between Bhutan and India were established in January 1968.<\/li>\n<li>Relationship between both the countries are guided by the Indo-Bhutan Friendship treaty. The treaty was signed in 1949 and was revised in 2007.\n<ul>\n<li>Article 2 of the Treaty declares that India would not interfere in Bhutan\u2019s administrative affairs and the latter would be guided by the former\u2019s advice in its external relations.<\/li>\n<li>After the revision of treaty in 2007, Bhutan no longer require India\u2019s approval over importing arms. India supports Bhutan\u2019s progress towards sovereignty and democracy.<\/li>\n<li>Also, now there are no limitations of Bhutan with respect to other countries. But Bhutan cannot use its territory for activities against India\u2019s security threat.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>In 2014, the new Prime Minister at New Delhi chose Bhutan as his first foreign destination.<\/li>\n<li>He coined the idea of B2B as \u2018Bharat to Bhutan\u2019 for building effective and renewed bilateral relationship.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Bhutan \u2013 India Economic Cooperation<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Bhutanese currency is Ngultrum (Nu) and is officially pegged to the Indian Rupee.<\/li>\n<li>India is Bhutan\u2019s top trade partner both as an import source and as an export destination.<\/li>\n<li>Since 2014, India\u2019s trade with Bhutan has almost tripled from USD 484 million in 2014-15 to <u>USD 1422 million in 2021-22<\/u>.\n<ul>\n<li>This accounts for about 80% of Bhutan\u2019s overall trade, with the balance of trade in India\u2019s favour.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>India is the leading source of investments in Bhutan, comprising 50% of the country\u2019s total FDI.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Bhutan &#8211; India Development Cooperation<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>For the 12th Five Year Plan of Bhutan, India is providing an assistance of Rs. 45 billion.\n<ul>\n<li>Since the launching of First Five Year Plan of Bhutan in 1961, India has been extending financial support to Bhutan\u2019s FYPs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>In the Union Budget 2023-2024, the highest allocation was for Bhutan at\u00a0Rs 2400 crore.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Bhutan &#8211; India Hydropower Cooperation<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Hydropower projects in Bhutan are an example of win-win cooperation, providing a reliable source of inexpensive and clean electricity to India, generating export revenue for Bhutan and cementing our economic integration.<\/li>\n<li>So far, Government of India has constructed three Hydroelectric Projects (HEPs) in Bhutan:\n<ul>\n<li>336 MW Chukha HEP, 60 MW Kurichhu HEP and 1020 MW Tala HEP.\n<ul>\n<li>These three plants are operational and exporting surplus power to India.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>News Summary: India, Bhutan agree to expand connectivity, trade<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Bhutan King is on an official visit to India from November 3 to 10.<\/li>\n<li>The two leaders held discussions on the entire gamut of bilateral cooperation and regional and global issues of mutual interest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Key highlights of the visit by King of Bhutan<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>9 steps to expand ties\n<ul>\n<li>The two sides announced 9 steps to expand ties in trade, technology, cross-border connectivity, mutual investments, education and people-to-people contacts.<\/li>\n<li>India also agreed to positively consider Bhutan\u2019s request for concessional financing in skill development and capacity-building.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Rail link\n<ul>\n<li>The two sides agreed on a final location survey for the proposed cross-border rail link connecting Kokrajhar in Assam to Gelephu in Bhutan.<\/li>\n<li>The two sides also agreed to consider establishing a rail link between Banarhat in West Bengal and Samtse in Bhutan.<\/li>\n<li>It was also decided to designate Haldibari(West Bengal) to Chilahati (Bangladesh) rail route as an <u>additional trade route<\/u> for Bhutan&#8217;s trade with Bangladesh.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Bridge financing\n<ul>\n<li>India also decided to provide bridge financing for the period between 12th and 13th Five-Year Plans of Bhutan for India-assisted projects and schemes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Immigration check post between Bhutan and India\n<ul>\n<li>Both sides agreed to designate Darranga (Assam) and Samdrup Jongkhar (Bhutan) as immigration check post between Bhutan and India.<\/li>\n<li>This is to facilitate the <u>entry and exit of third country nationals<\/u> by land route for enhancing connectivity, and promoting tourism.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Strengthen trade infrastructure\n<ul>\n<li>This includes suitable upgradation of the existing Land Customs station at Dadgiri (Assam) to Integrated Check Post through India&#8217;s support along with development of facilities on the Bhutanese side at Gelephu.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Other announcements\n<ul>\n<li>Both the leaders decided to\n<ul>\n<li>safeguard the ecological diversity of the region,<\/li>\n<li>allocate additional MBBS seats for Bhutanese students in medical colleges in Assam and<\/li>\n<li>double the outlay under Ambassador\u2019s scholarship for Bhutanese students pursuing higher education in India.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The leaders agreed to extend the existing India-Bhutan energy partnership in hydro to non-hydro renewables, such as solar as well as green initiatives for hydrogen and e-mobility.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Q1)\u00a0What is Ngultrum (Nu.)?<\/h3>\n<p>The ngultrum (Nu.) is the official currency of Bhutan, a small landlocked country in South Asia. The currency code is BTN. The ngultrum has been the country&#8217;s official currency since 1974, when it replaced the Indian rupee.<\/p>\n<h3>Q2) Where is Bhutan located?<\/h3>\n<p>Bhutan is a small, landlocked country located in southern Asia between Tibet and India. The topography of the country can be divided into different regions from north to south based on altitude: the Great Himalayas, the Inner Himalayans and the Southern Foothills.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theweek.in\/news\/india\/2023\/11\/06\/india-bhutan-agree-to-expand-connectivity-trade.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>India, Bhutan agree to expand connectivity, trade<\/u><\/a><u> | <\/u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.indembthimphu.gov.in\/pages.php?id=42\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Embassy of India at Thimpu<\/u><\/a><u> | <\/u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.business-standard.com\/amp\/world-news\/india-bhutan-agree-to-extend-energy-partnership-to-non-hydro-renewables-123110601424_1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Business Standard<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Diplomatic relations between Bhutan and India were established in January 1968.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":38067,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-38066","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38066\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}