Royal family of Bhutan on a four day visit of India

The Royal family of Bhutan including the King, Queen and Prince arrived in India on Tuesday on a four day visit.

His Majesty the Druk Gyalpo Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck; Her Majesty the Gyaltsuen Jetsun Pema Wangchuck and Gyalsey Jigme Namgyel Wangchuk were received by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Government of India, at 11am on Wednesday.

The itinerary of the King will include meetings with the President of India, Prime Minister and other Ministers.

On Wednesday Minister Sushma Swaraj will be calling on the King at 10.15 am at the Hotel Taj Diplomatic Enclave. At 11:30am the King will be meeting the President of India Ram Nath Kovind. At 7:30pm he will be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On Thursday at 9am Finance Minister of India Arun Jailtley will be calling on the King followed by Inidan Minister of Defense Nirmala Sitharaman at 10:30am. At 11:30 am Vice President Venkaiah Naidu will be calling on the King.

On Friday the Royal family will be returning to Bhutan. Diplomatic commentators are attaching great importance to this visit, specially after the standoff between India and China over the Doklam issue.

A Ministry of External Affairs release stated "The visist would provide an opportunity to both the sides for reviewing the entire gamut of bilateral cooperation including plans for befitting celebrations of golden jubilee of establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2018 and to advance the special bilateral ties of friendship and cooperation."

Incidentally on August 11, 2017 Minister Sushma Swaraj had met her Bhutanese counterpart Damcho Dorjeein Kathmandu on the sidelines of a meeting of foreign ministers of the countries of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC- a group of countries of South Asia and South East Asia.)

The two ministers had then discussed bilateral issues, amidst the standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in the Doklam area of the Sikkim sector. India and China were locked in a face-off in the Doklam area of the Sikkim sector since June 16. The stand-off ended on August 28. Doklam is a tri-junction between India, China and Bhutan.

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