On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. King Wangchuck also met India’s foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra and shall meet Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor of India, today.

On Tuesday, Bhutan sanctioned the International solar alliance framework agreement. The Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagchi, reported that in the presence of DG International Solar Alliance, the instrument of ratification was handed over to Secretary ER Dammu Ravi by the Ambassador of Bhutan Maj Gen Vetsop Namgyel.

Calling for peace between the two nations and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, Bhutan and India signed the Treaty of Friendship on August 9, 1949. Treaty was revised in 2007, permitting India to guide the country’s foreign policy and consult each other closely on defence affairs. The countries share several diplomatic and intuitional mechanisms in the ranges of security, border management, trade, hydropower, and water resources; India shares 699km of borderline with Bhutan.

India is Bhutan’s biggest trading partner. India has already constructed three hydroelectric projects in Bhutan (Kurichhu HEP, Tala HEP, and Chukha HEP). Not long ago, India completed a 720 MW Mangdechhu Hydroelectric Power Project. Apart from these, Bhutan was the first country that receives the Covishield vaccines under India’s Vaccine Maitri Initiative.