Indian Embassy

Visit of Cabinet Secretary, GOI to Bhutan

Cabinet Secretary, GOI, Mr. K.M. Chandrasekhar visited Bhutan from 5-7 March 2010. During the visit, Mr. Chandrasekhar received audience with HM the King and called on the Prime Minister of Bhutan, besides meeting his Bhutanese counterpart. Mr. Chandrashekhar also delivered a lecture on ‘Functions of Cabinet Committee of Secretaries and relationship between bureaucracy and politics’.

3^rd EJG meeting

Third (3rd) meeting of the Empowered Joint Group (EJG) on bilateral mega hydropower projects was held in New Delhi on 22-23 March 2010. The RGoB delegation was led by Hon’ble Minister for Economic Affairs, Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk and included Ambassador of Bhutan to India, representatives from Department of Energy, RGoB and concerned RGoB PSUs such as Bhutan Power Corporation, etc. GOI delegation was led by Additional Secretary (Financial Advisor), MEA and included Ambassador of India to Bhutan, Joint Secretary (North), MEA, Joint Secretary (Hydro), Ministry of Power and representatives of the CEA, CWC and the concerned PSUs.

Visit of Shri P. Chidambaram, Minister of Home Affairs of India

Shri P. Chidambaram, Hon'ble Minister of Home Affairs of India, accompanied by senior officials from the Ministries of Home and External Affairs visited Bhutan from August 21-24, 2009. During the visit, he had an audience with His Majesty the King of Bhutan, His Majesty the 4th Druk Gyalpo and called on H.E. the Prime Minister. Bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest were discussed. Prime Minister of Bhutan hosted a banquet in honour of Shri Chidambaram.

Visit of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Shri Vinod Rai visited Bhutan from 14-17 September 2009. He received audience with HM the King and called on the Prime Minister of Bhutan. The delegation had detailed interactions with the Royal Audit Authority (RAA) of Bhutan. CAG also gave a talk on the relationship between the Public Account Committee (PAC) of the Parliament and the Supreme Audit Institutions (CAG in India and RAA in Bhutan) to the members of RAA and the PAC of Bhutan.

Visit of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India

Chief Election Commissioner, Shri Navin Chawla visited Bhutan from 26-30 October 2009. He received audience with HM the King and called on the Prime Minister of Bhutan. CEC also gave a talk on the "Political Parties: Lessons from Indian Democracy".

5 ^th Plan Talk

The 5^th Plan Talks were held in Thimphu from 27-30 October 2009. The Indian delegation was led by Joint Secretary (North), Ministry of External Affairs. The Bhutanese delegation for the meeting was led by the Foreign Secretary. All projects under the GOI assistance to Bhutan's 10^thFYP and ongoing projects of the 9^th Plan were reviewed and discussed.

The assistance by the Government of India for relief works for damage caused by the Earthquake in Bhutan in September 2009

During the visit of the King of Bhutan, His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, to India in December 2009, the Prime Minister of India, H.E. Manmohan Singh, as a gesture of solidarity with the Government and people of Bhutan, announced assistance of Nu/Rs 25 crores towards rehabilitation and reconstruction works for the damage caused by the earthquake in Bhutan in September 2009. Ambassador of India to Bhutan, H.E. Pavan K Varma handed over the cheque to the Prime Minister of the Royal Government of Bhutan, Lyonchen Jigmi Y. Thinley on 26^th January 2010.

The assistance by the Government of India for relief works for damage caused by the sever flood in Bhutan in May 2009

The Government of India provided assistance of Nu/Rs 10 crores towards rehabilitation and reconstruction works for the damage caused by the unprecedented floods in Bhutan in May 2009. Ambassador of India to Bhutan, H.E. Pavan K Varma handed over the cheque to the Prime Minister of the Royal Government of Bhutan, Lyonchen Jigmi Y. Thinley on 21 July 2009.

Visit of Her Majesty the Queen Mother of Bhutan to India

Her Majesty Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuk, the Queen Mother of Bhutan visited India from 18-25 January 2010. In Delhi, Her Majesty met Smt. Sonia Gandhi, the Chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance and Foreign Secretary, Smt. Nirupama Rao. She also visited JP Institute of Information Technology and SEWA. Thereafter she participated in the Literary Festival at Jaipur, which is considered Asia's biggest Literary Festival, and gave a talk on 'Treasures of the Thunder Dragon'. She also visited Jaisalmer.

Visit of the Health Minister, RGoB to India

Visit of Lyonpo Zangley Dukpa, Health Minister, RGoB A team of experts from the Ministry of Health, RGoB and Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital, headed by Hon’ble Health Minister of Bhutan visited India in connection with revising its patient referral guidelines framed more than two decades ago. The Government of Bhutan has been sending more than 600 Bhutanese patients annually for treatment to Kolkata, Vellore, Chennai and Guwahati. Lyonpo Dukpa earlier visited India in January 2010 in this regard.

Visit of Minister of Information & Communications, RGoB to India

Lyonpo Nandlal Rai, Minister of Information and Communications, RGoB visited India from 7-11 June 2010 to attend the 2nd National IT/ITES Advisory Council Meeting and NASSCOM BPO Strategy Summit in Bangalore. He also interacted with the leading software and IT companies of India such as PGCIL, HCL, IBM India, NOKIA, CISCO, INFOSYS, Bharti Air Tel and GENPACT. The Main areas of discussion included the second telecom gateway through Galephu in Bhutan, inviting Indian companies for establishing R&D units, BPO and data centres in the forthcoming IT Park in Thimphu.

Visit of Chief of Army Staff

Chief of Army Staff, GOI, Gen. V.K. Singh visited Bhutan from 7-11 June 2010. During the visit, he received audience with H.M. the King and H.M. the 4th Druk Gyalpo, and called on Hon’ble Prime Minister. .

Release of 30% mobilization advance for the first lot of SDPs

In a ceremony organized by the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) in Thimphu on 3 February 2010, Ambassador Pavan K Varma handed over the cheque for Rs. 39.39 crores to the Prime Minister Lyonchen Jigmi Y. Thinley towards 30% mobilization advance for implementation of the first lot of 441 small development projects (SDPs). As part of assistance to RGoB's 10^thFive Year Plan (FYP), the Government of India allocated Rs. 700 crores for the SDPs in the key socio-economic areas, which are short gestation, community-oriented and impact lives of a wider cross section of the society. The first lot of 441 projects worth Rs/Nu 131.3043 crores in areas of drinking water supply, health, education, construction of administrative offices and community hall, roads, bridges, culture, irrigation channels and Renewable Natural Resource (RNR) centres covering all 20 districts of Bhutan were identified in the first meeting of the Small Project Development Committee (comprising members from RGoB and the Embassy of India) held in Thimphu in November last year.