Bhutan PM Tshering Tobgay to pay 5-day visit to India

New Delhi: Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay will pay a five-day visit to India beginning Thursday in his first foreign trip after assuming the charge of the top office in January.

Tobgay will hold wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and call on President Droupadi Murmu, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, announcing the Bhutanese leader's visit from March 14 to 18.

The Bhutanese leader is also scheduled to travel to Mumbai.

"The visit of the prime minister of Bhutan will provide an opportunity to the two sides to review the progress in our unique partnership and to discuss ways and means to expand the enduring ties of friendship and cooperation between India and Bhutan," the MEA said in a statement.

Tobgay will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, including a number of his cabinet colleagues and top officials.

"India and Bhutan enjoy exemplary ties of friendship and cooperation, based on trust, goodwill and mutual understanding at all levels. During the visit, the prime minister of Bhutan will call on President Droupadi Murmu and hold bilateral talks with the prime minister of India," the MEA said.

"During the visit, the prime minister of Bhutan will call on President Droupadi Murmu and hold bilateral talks with the prime minister of India," it said.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will call on the Bhutanese prime minister.

In January, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra travelled to Bhutan on a three-day trip, in the first high-level visit from New Delhi after the formation of the new government under Tobgay.

Tobgay's visit to India against the backdrop of China and Bhutan looking at an expeditious resolution of their festering boundary row that could have implications for India's security interests.

Around five months back, Bhutan's then Foreign Minister Tandi Dorji held talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing.

A Chinese readout on the talks said Bhutan firmly abides by the one-China principle and stands ready to work with China for an early settlement of the boundary issue and advance the political process of establishing diplomatic relations.

New Delhi has been keeping a close eye on the negotiations between Bhutan and China on their boundary row as it could have implications for New Delhi's security interests, especially in the Doklam tri-junction.

In August last year, China and Bhutan agreed to expedite and take simultaneous steps to implement a "three-step roadmap to resolve their festering boundary dispute.

In October 2021, Bhutan and China signed an agreement on the "three-step roadmap" to expedite negotiations to resolve their boundary dispute.

The signing of the pact came four years after the Indian and Chinese armies were locked in a 73-day stand-off at the Doklam tri-junction after China tried to extend a road in the area that Bhutan claimed belonged to it.

The India-China stand-off in the Doklam plateau in 2017 even triggered fears of larger conflict between the two neighbours. Bhutan had said the area belonged to it and India supported the Bhutanese claim.