President Pratibha Patil wrapped up on a positive note her four-day visit to Bhutan, where she attended the coronation of the world's youngest monarch Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wanchuck, giving a fresh momentum to close bilateral ties.
The recent withdrawal of subsidies on cooking gas and kerosene to Bhutan, since revived, has raised the hackles in China, with a state-run daily saying India will not allow Bhutan to freely engage with it.
Playing down its unsuccessful bid to establish diplomatic ties with Bhutan, China on Monday said it is glad to see New Delhi and Thimphu develop their relations further during the just-concluded visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The fundamental construct of India's neighbourhood policy still needs to be what Vajpayee postulated, Manmohan Singh embraced, and Modi energised. It's just that we need to junk domestic politics and excessive religiosity, while acquiring much humility and a renewed respectfulness towards our neighbours, recommends Shekhar Gupta.
A five-time Olympic shooter, Randhir Singh was the lone eligible candidate for the OCA president's post.
"I have come with a message that India stands ready to join hands with the people and the government of Bhutan to strengthen our relationship to do our bid for accelerated development of Bhutan," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told reporters after he arrived on a two-day visit to the country. Dr Singh, who became the first international leader to visit Bhutan after it entered the club of democratic nations in March, received a warm reception at Paro International Airport.
India and Bhutan have decided to enhance security along their borders to check infiltration of militant groups of the north-east into the Himalayan nation.
Withdrawing a blanket ban on overseas shipments of non-basmati white rice, the government on Saturday imposed a floor price of $490 per tonne and exempted the commodity from export duty. Exports of non-basmati white rice have been banned since July 20, 2023 to boost domestic supply. "The export policy for non-basmati white rice (semi-milled or wholly milled rice, whether or not polished or gazed) ...is amended from prohibited to free, subject to MEP (minimum export price) of $490 per tonne with immediate effect and until further orders," the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) said in a notification.
Taj Leisure Hotels will open its first property in Bhutan soon. Called Taj Tashi, the hotel will be set up in Thimphu at an investment of Rs 50 crore.
In yet another instance of proactive economic diplomacy with Bhutan, a consortium of Indian banks led by the country's biggest lender SBI has come forward to take the lead role to finance efforts of industrialisation in the mountain kingdom.
He further opined that though as public functionaries, courts were vested with the responsibility to give effect to equity, these judicial bodies were not directly in charge of the manner in which resources were to be distributed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday left for home from Bhutan, concluding his first foreign trip after assuming office last month. He was given a warm send off by Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and several of his cabinet colleagues at the Paro airport.
In April, 2014, the two countries had signed a framework agreement on four more JV-model HEPs totalling 2120MW.
How to discover beautiful destinations in true-blue filmi style (which simply means you look fabulous as you do so:))!
In a sign of deepening bilateral ties, Bhutan Prime Minister Jigmi Y Thinley will arrive in New Delhi on a three-day visit during which he will hold talks with the top leadership on hydro-electric projects among other issues.
Three weeks after taking over, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Bhutan on Sunday on his first foreign visit to demonstrate the "special token of friendship" for the country.
Making Bhutan his first foreign destination, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday vowed to nurture bilateral relations which he described as 'B2B - Bharat to Bhutan'.
The union has sought clarification on the environmental impact of the project in the nearby areas of neighbouring Assam.
Prince William and Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton, have arrived in Bhutan for the start of a two day visit to the remote mountain kingdom. The couple touched down at Paro International Airport on Thursday morning.
Having already booked their place in the semifinals, a relaxed Indian women's team simply toyed with an out of sorts Bhutan, thrashing them 11-0 in their last group engagement of the SAFF Championship on Colombo on Tuesday.
A source in the earthquake observation centre at North East Institute of Science and Tenchnology (NEIST) of the CSIR located at Jorhat in Assam informed that the quake was measured at 4.7 on the Richter scale though initial reports put it at 6.3 on the scale.
The agreement signed between the Bhutan government and leading BPO firm Genpact on June 8 will help alleviate the unemployment situation in the country, according to labour and human resources minister Dorji Wangdi. According to the agreement, Genpact will recruit 200 Bhutanese graduates every year to be trained and employed in India.
India has provided 1,935 electronic voting machines to Bhutan for the country's second national elections to be held on Saturday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday embarked on a visit to Bhutan, his first foreign destination since he took over, with a focus on making development cooperation with the neighbouring country 'more effective'.
Bhutan, sandwitched between its giant neighbours India and China, on Monday became the world's 124th democracy as its people voted overwhelmingly in a historic general election, bringing the curtains down on a century of absolute monarchy. The election is a closely fought contest between two parties -- the People's Democratic Party and the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa.
Foreign policy is always a work in progress and ups and downs are built into foreign policy process. What is permanent is national interest. Hopefully, this year, which will also witness general elections in the country, will also clear clouds in the foreign policy horizon, observes Rup Narayan Das.
From India's neighbourhood and extended neighbourhood, presidents of Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Iran, Seychelles and prime ministers of Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Mauritius have sent congratulatory greetings to Modi.
Kohli spent the day with his wife in the mountains.
'China did not expect India to show such strategic resolve in defending its territorial integrity.'
Bhutanese Prime Minister Jigmey Thinley on Monday said there were no militants from Assam in the Himalayan country and reiterated Bhutan's commitment to prevent any anti-Indian activities on its soil.During a brief stop-over at the Guwahati International Airport on his way to Thimphu, Thinley told reporters that as on date, there was no presence of any militant from the banned United Liberation Front of Assam or National Democratic Front of Bodoland in Bhutan.
When the internal security situation spirals out of the control of the provincial law and order machinery, the CAPFs can be called in, providing a security buffer before the Army is deployed.
India may be suffering from acute power problems. But it has addressed the power shortage in neighbouring Bhutan with the Tala hydroelectric project exceeding the power generation forecast.
India has abstained in the UN General Assembly on a resolution that demanded that Russia immediately cease its aggression against Ukraine and urgently withdraw its military and other unauthorised personnel from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Apart from India, Bangladesh and Bhutan have also pulled out of the SAARC Summit in Islamabad in November, saying the environment is not right for the successful holding of the meet.
Bhutan's much-publicised royal wedding that will see King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck tying the nuptial knot with his childhood sweetheart Jetsun Pema began on Thursday morning amid chanting of hymns by Buddhist monks in the historical city of Punakha.
Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu has accepted the invitation to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony in New Delhi over the weekend, according to a media report on Friday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said India is committed to good neighbourly relations and assured Bhutan that a change in the government will not alter the dynamics of Indo-Bhutan ties.
Following news of bird flu outbreak in a poultry farm in West Bengal's Darjeeling, Bhutan is mulling a ban on import of chicken meat and eggs from India.
