Bhutan
India and Bhutan share a unique and time-tested bilateral relationship, characterized by utmost trust, goodwill and mutual understanding. The special relationship has been sustained by a tradition of regular high-level visits and dialogues between the two countries.
Bhutan - India Development Cooperation is wide-ranging and multi-faceted in consonance with the Vision of His Majesty the Druk Gyalpo and the Concept of Gross National Happiness for all. By 2023, Bhutan aims to graduate from the list of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) which would require holistic capacity development of various sectors of the Bhutanese economy. The 12th Five Year Plan of Bhutan aims to build a “Just, Harmonious and Sustainable Society through enhanced Decentralisation”.
Cooperation to tackle the challenge of COVID-19 Pandemic
- Bhutan was the first country to receive the made in India Covishield vaccines under Ministry of External Affairs Vaccine Maitri Initiative.
- A total of 550,000 doses of Covishield were given to Bhutan as a gift. The Government of India delivered total 12 medical consignments to Bhutan containing essential medicines.
Capacity Building & Other Exchanges
- Many Bhutanese students benefit from scholarships provided by the GOI for studying in Indian educational institutions. In addition, many Bhutanese youth also enroll as self-financed students in Indian universities. During the State visit of Prime Minister of India to Bhutan in 2019, four MOUs on cooperation in STEM Education were signed between the Royal University of Bhutan and the Indian Institutes of Technology at Delhi, Bombay, Kanpur and the National Institute of Technology, Silchar.
- The current offers from India to Bhutan in terms of Scholarship Schemes include the Ambassador’s Scholarship, prestigious Nehru Wangchuck Scholarship, Five-Year Plan project-tied assistance based Undergraduate Scholarship, Nalanda University Scholarship, ICCR Undergraduate Engineering scholarships. ICCR, AYUSH, BIMSTEC and SAARC scholarships have also provided a strong foundation to the bilateral engagement in education. Bhutanese students have also been availing of seats at IIT-Kanpur under India-Bhutan Friendship Scholarship, IIT Gandhinagar Global Fellowship and the Rashtriya Raksha University Scholarships. Every year, approx. 1,000 Bhutanese students studying in Indian colleges and institutes benefit from the award of the Ambassador’s Scholarship, which was instituted in 2001.
- Under the capacity-building ITEC program, about 325 slots for the in-person training, along with unlimited e-ITEC slots, are allotted annually to Bhutan for upgrading administrative and technical skills of government officials and private sector employees in Bhutan. In 2022, Government of India also customized special ITEC progammes for training 100 Bhutanese young entrepreneurs at the prestigious Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), Ahmedabad and 30 entrepreneurs at the Indian Institute of Packaging.
- Under Aid to Bhutan Scholarship Scheme of ICCR, 25 slots are allotted annually. Former Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Bhutan, Mr. Damcho Dorji was conferred ICCR Distinguished Alumni Award – 2018 in New Delhi (28 January 2019). Executive Director of Music of Bhutan Research Centre, Mr. Sonam Dorji was conferred ICCR Distinguished Alumni Award – 2021 in Thimphu (26 May 2022).
Development Cooperation (Grants/ LoCs/ Assistance)
- For the 12th Five Year Plan of Bhutan, India is providing an assistance of Nu. /Rs. 45 billion out of which Nu. /Rs. 28 billion has been earmarked for Project Tied Assistance (PTA) projects. These projects are spread over various sectors, inter-alia, Health, Education, Agriculture, Economic Development, ICT, Infrastructure, Urban Development, Technical & Vocational Trainings, Judiciary, Sports and Capacity building of Public Servants.
- At present, India is supporting 77 Project Tied Assistance (PTA) projects with an outlay of Nu. /Rs. 28 billion, 526 High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDP)/Small Development Projects (SDP) at an outlay of Nu. /Rs. 8.5 billion. Apart from this, India has committed Program Grant development assistance to Bhutan to the tune of Nu. /Rs. 8.5 billion and a transitional Trade Support Facility (TSF) amounting to Nu. /Rs. 4 billion for Bhutan’s 12th Five Year Plan.
- India will be extending grant assistance of INR 2 billion to the Gyalsung Project - a visionary initiative of His Majesty the King of Bhutan, which will enable the youth to equip themselves with critical skills and to contribute in nation-building efforts.
- The two countries have enjoyed longstanding mutually beneficial cooperation in the hydro-sector. Till date the Government of India has constructed four major hydro-electric projects (HEPs) in Bhutan totaling 2136 MW. Bhutan exported electricity worth Rs. 2443 crores to India.
Cooperation in New and Emerging Areas
- Ground Earth Station of the South Asia Satellite (SAS) in Thimphu was established under the space cooperation between India-Bhutan.
- Fin-tech is another new domain of collaboration between India and Bhutan. The RuPay Card was launched in Bhutan to enable acceptance of payments in Bhutan using RuPay cards issued by Indian banks and vice-versa thereby enabling the full inter-operability of the flagship digital project. This is meant to benefit Indian visitors in Bhutan and Bhutanese citizens who travel and transit to India for education, tourism and work.
- In 2021, India’s Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) application was launched in Bhutan with the objective of promoting cashless payments between the two nations.
- The integration of Bhutan’s DrukRen with India’s National Knowledge Network is a key cooperation in the domain of e-Learning. This integration creates an information highway between the universities, research institutions, libraries, health-care and agricultural institutions of the two nations. The network is being actively used by 28 active DrukREN members including the top universities, colleges and hospital in Bhutan and is benefitting more than 10,000 users.
- The E-library project complements Bhutan's efforts at digital transformation and e-learning. The project commenced its work in September, 2016 and was handed over to the Ministry of Education in June 2020. The project includes the development of an e-library portal, establishment of a data centre in Thimphu Tech Park, creation and management of e-content and the creation of e-libraries in 49 schools and 12 colleges in each district of Bhutan. The e-library project is presently benefiting 160,000 high-school students and 9800 college-going students.
- In November 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) signed an agreement with the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan (RMA) for providing an additional currency swap support to the RMA of up to USD 200 million equivalent in INR (approximately INR 1657 crore). This support is in addition to the extant currency swap support of USD 200 million INR equivalent extended by the RBI. The swap agreement between the RBI and the RMA is intended to provide a backstop line of funding for RMA for short-term foreign exchange liquidity requirements or to meet any balance of payments and liquidity crises. This facility will also help to promote trade and investment between the two countries.
