March 26, 2008 Manmohan to go to a
Democratic Bhutan
in May By Manish
Chand
New Delhi
As Bhutan becomes the newest democracy in India's neighborhood after
over 100 years of absolute monarchy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
is readying to go to Thimphu in May - the first visit by an Indian
prime minister to that country in more than a decade.
"The prime minister will go to Bhutan in May. Dates are being worked
out," an official source told IANS.
If the scheduled April 10 Constituent Assembly polls in Nepal go
well, the prime minister may combine a trip to Nepal with Bhutan in
May, the source said.
The visit will focus on the forging of a more diversified and
contemporary economic and energy partnership in tune with emerging
realities in the new countries, the source said.
With the India-US civil nuclear deal slipping into political limbo,
the visit of the prime minister to Bhutan is a part of the larger
mission of diversifying the country's energy basket as the Himalayan
state has huge untapped potential in hydro-electricity.
According to a survey, Bhutan has the potential to produce 30,000 MW
of hydropower. Even if half of this potential is tapped, it can go a
long way in easing chronic power shortages in northern India.
The 1,020-MW Tala hydropower project at Chukha Dzongkhag in western
Bhutan, the largest joint venture between India and the Druk
kingdom, is a symbol of their collaboration in power generation.
The visit will also give the prime minister an insight into the
democratic transformation of the nation of over 600,000 people that
once relished its isolation and prided itself on measuring its
wealth in terms of gross domestic happiness. P.V. Narasimha Rao was
the last Indian prime minister to go to Thimphu - in 1993.
Celebrating Bhutan's march towards "constitutional, democratic
monarchy" as it held its first-ever poll Monday, India promised to
"provide all possible assistance to the royal government of Bhutan
during its period of transition".
New Delhi was also all praise for the Bhutanese monarch. "His
majesty's personal guidance, meticulous planning and constant
support throughout have contributed to the success of this historic
enterprise," the external affairs ministry said in a statement.
India has actively assisted the democratic transition of Bhutan,
also called the Land of the Thunder Dragon, by training poll
officials and setting up Bhutan's Election Commission, as well as
providing over $2 million in assistance, including electronic voting
machines.
The prime minister's visit to Bhutan will signal a renewed effort by
the two neighbors to modernize their ties - a process that began in
February last year when the 28-year-old King Jigme Jigme Khesar
Namgyal Wangchuk came here to sign an updated treaty of friendship
with India.
The new treaty, aimed at giving "a 21st century complexion" to
bilateral ties, gave Bhutan, with which India shares a nearly
700-km-long border and which has been guided by New Delhi in its
defence and foreign policies since 1949, more freedom in
international diplomacy and non-lethal military purchases.
Manmohan Singh's trip to Bhutan will also be the first bilateral
visit by him to a neighboring country with which India shares
borders since he became prime minister four years ago.
In fact, from May onwards, India's diplomatic energies will
increasingly focus on its immediate neighborhood. Manmohan Singh
will go to Kandy in Sri Lanka to attend the 15th SAARC summit in
July.
As a new government takes charge in Pakistan, Foreign Secretary
Shivshankar Menon is likely to travel to Islamabad to review the
fourth round of composite dialogue between the two countries. This
will be followed by a visit by External Affairs Minister Pranab
Mukherjee to Islamabad in May.
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