Bhutan’s new prime minister will receive two top Indian leaders Shivshankar Menon and Sujatha Sigh Friday, as they fly to Bhutan for fixing the strained relationship between two traditional neighbors and update on security concerns over China looming large.
Shivshankar Menon is the National Security Adviser and Sujatha Singh, the new Foreign Secretary of India. Ms Singh had indicated her first foreign visit to Bhutan earlier.
The visit is also said to be the ground preparation formality for visit of Bhutan’s Prime Minister, Tshering Tobgay to Delhi. But, speculations are rife in Thimphu that India’s punishment to DPT government by withdrawal of subsidy is something that this visit will bring to normalcy. The ministry of external affairs denies this assumption.
The duo will call upon the Foreign Minister Rinzin Dorji and Opposition Leader Pema Gyamtsho for discussing the bilateral issues facing Bhutan and India.
While security concerns over China’s intrusion in Bhutan remains a major irritant factor in Indo-Bhutan relations, Shivshankar Menon is expected to discuss this with the Prime Minister, not much expressed by the Bhutanese media.
For Sujatha Singh, it will be her focus to normalize the daily business between India and Bhutan, calling the subsidy withdrawal as ‘unfortunate technical lapse’. She will also talk about the fund-raising model exploitation of rivers in Bhutan for generation of electricity.
