People energise our ties: PM addresses Bhutan’s next-gen

NEW DELHI: Describing India and Bhutan as “natural partners”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi completed his visit to Bhutan on Sunday afternoon, focusing India’s closest neighbourhood relationship on education, innovation and space.
Addressing the students of the Royal University of Bhutan on Sunday, Modi said, said the world had a lot to learn from Bhutan where development, environment and culture are not at loggerheads but in synergy.“In any part of the world, if we ask the question what do you associate with Bhutan, the answer will be the concept of Gross National Happiness. I am not surprised. Bhutan has understood the essence of happiness,” he said. “Bhutan has understood the spirit of harmony, togetherness and compassion. This very spirit radiates from the adorable children who lined the streets to welcome me yesterday. I will always remember their smiles,” Modi said.
Modi’s address to the students is not a coincidence. Numerous reports have said that the closeness that the previous generation felt with India did not receive a resonance with the present generation, many of whom believe Bhutan should open up to China as well. Modi attempted to address that group on Sunday.
“India-Bhutan cooperation in hydro-power and energy is exemplary. But the real source of power and energy of this relationship are our people,” he said. This spirit is clearly seen in the outcomes of this visit, he added.
Of the MOUs signed between the two sides the inauguration of the ground space station has been a focus of the Indian government. In a special gesture, Bhutan PM received Modi at the airport on Saturday and saw him off at the airport on Sunday. Modi met both the current King, Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuk and his father Jigme Singye Wangchuk, who flew in from overseas for the meeting. The fourth king retains a big voice in the country’s foreign and security affairs.
The joint statement by Modi and Bhutanese PM Lotay Tshering was held at the historic Semtokha Dzong, an important spiritual and cultural landmark in Bhutan, to signify the special nature of the visit.