His Excellency, Prime Minister of Bhutan,
And my friend Dr. Tshering,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Greetings,
I am very happy to be present among all of you here in Bhutan, an integral and special friend of India. Prime Minister, I sincerely thank you and the Royal Government of Bhutan for the very warm welcome accorded to me and my delegation.
Excellency,
My heartfelt gratitude also for your generous thoughts about this unique friendship of India-Bhutan. Bhutan holds a special place in the hearts of 130 crore Indians. During my last tenure, the selection of Bhutan was natural for my first visit as the Prime Minister. This time also, I am very happy to visit Bhutan at the beginning of my second term. The relations between India and Bhutan are based on the common interests of progress, prosperity and security of the people of both countries. And so they have full support of the people in both countries.
Excellency,
It is my privilege that the decisive mandate of the people of India has once again given me the opportunity to work with you, the King of Bhutan, to further strengthen these relations. Today I had the opportunity to discuss our partnership with His Majesty, the King of Bhutan. And after some time I will also meet His Majesty, The Fourth King of Bhutan. The intelligence and foresight of the Kings of Bhutan has guided our bilateral relations for a long time. Not only this, their vision has presented Bhutan, to the whole world, as a unique example where development is measured not by figures but by happiness. Where economic development moves along with tradition and environment. Who wouldn't want such a friend and neighbor.
Friends,
It is a privilege of India that we are a major partner in the development of Bhutan. India's cooperation in Bhutan's five-year plans will continue even further depending on their wishes and priorities.
Friends,
Hydro-power is an important area of cooperation between our two countries. The two countries have together transformed the power of the rivers of Bhutan into not only electricity but mutual prosperity also. Today we have achieved another historic milestone of this journey with the inauguration of the Mangdechhu project. With the cooperation of both countries, hydro-power generation capacity in Bhutan has crossed 2000 MW. I am confident that we will also take other projects forward very fast.
Excellency,
To meet the growing needs of the common people of Bhutan, the supply of LPG from India is being increased from 700 to 1000 MT per month. This will help in bringing clean fuel to the villages.
Friends,
In our first meeting Dr. Tshering told me that his main motivation for joining politics has been to provide good health services to the common man. I was very impressed with his vision. India will extend all possible help in realizing his dream of multi-disciplinary super-specialty hospital in Bhutan.
Excellency,
Under the SAARC Currency Swap Framework, we are positive to increase the limit of currency swaps for Bhutan. Meanwhile, an additional $ 100 million will be available to Bhutan under the standby swap arrangement to meet the foreign exchange requirement.
Friends,
India is committed to accelerate the development of Bhutan using space technology. We have inaugurated the earth station of South Asia Satellite today. This will increase coverage of communication, public broad-casting and disaster management in Bhutan. For these purposes extra bandwidth and transponders will also be made available as per Bhutan's requirement. Both countries will also cooperate in the construction of small satellites and the use of space technology. Connection with the National Knowledge Network of India will connect Bhutan's students and researchers to the new resources of Indian universities. This is an important step for the establishment of a Common Knowledge Society between the two countries, which will particularly benefit our youth. The collaboration and relationship between Royal Bhutan University and IITs of India and some other top educational institutions are in line with today's requirements for education and technology. I am eagerly looking forward to meeting the talented youth of this country at the Royal Bhutan University tomorrow.
Friends,
I am very happy that today we have launched the RuPay card in Bhutan. This will further enhance our relationship in digital payments, and trade and tourism. Our shared spiritual heritage and strong people-to-people relationship is the heart of our relations. Keeping this in mind, post-graduate scholarships for Bhutan at Nalanda University are being increased from two to five. I have received the blessings of Zhabdrung here today. I am happy to announce that India has agreed to extend the presence of this unique statue in Bhutan for another five years.
Excellency,
The history of India-Bhutan relations is as glorious as its promising future. I believe that India and Bhutan will remain a unique model of relations between two countries in the world.
To give an opportunity to visit again this beautiful Druk Yul,
Once again many-many thanks for your welcome and your love.
Tashi Delak!
130 करोड़ भारतीयों के दिलों में भूटान एक विशेष स्थान रखता है ।
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) August 17, 2019
मेरे पिछले कार्यकाल के दौरान, प्रधानमंत्री के रूप में मेरी पहली यात्रा के लिए भूटान का चुनाव स्वाभाविक था। इस बार भी, अपने दूसरे कार्यकाल के शुरू में ही भूटान आकर मैं बहुत खुश हूं: PM
यह भारत का सौभाग्य है कि हम भूटान के विकास में प्रमुख भागीदार हैं। भूटान की पंचवर्षीय योजनाओं में भारत का सहयोग आपकी इच्छाओं और प्राथमिकताओं के आधार पर आगे भी जारी रहेगा: PM
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) August 17, 2019
भूटान के सामान्य लोगों की बढ़ती जरूरतों को पूरा करने के लिए भारत से एलपीजी की आपूर्ति 700 से बढ़ाकर 1000 मीट्रिक टन प्रति माह की जा रही है। इससे clean fuel गाँवों तक पहुंचाने में मदद मिलेगी : PM
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) August 17, 2019
SAARC करेंसी स्वैप फ्रेमवर्क के तहत भूटान के लिए करेंसी स्वैप की limit बढ़ाने के लिए हमारा नज़रिया positive है। इस बीच, विदेशी मुद्रा की आवश्यकता को पूरा करने के लिए स्टैंडबाय स्वैप व्यवस्था के तहत अतिरिक्त 100 मिलियन डॉलर भूटान को उपलब्ध होंगे: PM
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) August 17, 2019
Space technology के उपयोग से भूटान के विकास में तेजी लाने के लिए भारत प्रतिबद्ध है। हमने आज south asia satellite के अर्थ स्टेशन का उद्घाटन किया है। यह भूटान में communication, public broadcasting और disaster management के कवरेज को बढ़ाएगा: PM
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) August 17, 2019
Royal Bhutan University और भारत के IITs और कुछ अन्य top शिक्षा संस्थानों के बीच सहयोग और संबंध शिक्षा और टेक्नोलॉजी के लिए आज की आवश्यकताओं के अनुरूप हैं ।
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) August 17, 2019
कल Royal Bhutan University में इस देश के प्रतिभाशाली युवाओं से मुलाक़ात की मैं उत्सुकता से प्रतीक्षा कर रहा हूँ: PM
मुझे बहुत खुशी है कि आज हमने भूटान में RuPay कार्ड को launch किया है। इससे डिजिटल भुगतान, और व्यापार तथा पर्यटन में हमारे संबंध और बढेंगे।
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) August 17, 2019
हमारी साझा आध्यात्मिक विरासत और मजबूत people-to-people संबंध हमारे संबंधों की जान हैं: PM
भारत-भूटान संबंधों का इतिहास जितना गौरवशाली है, उतना ही आशाजनक भविष्य भी है।
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) August 17, 2019
मुझे विश्वास है कि भारत और भूटान दुनिया में दो देशों के बीच संबंधों का एक अनूठा मॉडल रहेंगे: PM
