India-Bhutan Relations Set To Soar With FM Sitharaman Allocating Highest Budget Outlay To The Mountain Nation

The bilateral relations between India and brother-nation of Bhutan received a major boost with the Union Budget 2019-20 announcing a major increase in the allocation to Bhutan under India's foreign affairs outlay, reports The Hindu.

The budgetary allocation for Bhutan has been hiked successively over the two years following the 2017 Doklam crisis. Of the total allocations for India's foreign affairs, a total of Rs 2,802 crore have been committed by the Union Finance Minister for Bhutan.

The move also gains significance in the light of bolstering ties between Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi and his Bhutanese counterpart, Bhutan's Premier Lotay Tshering. Tshering was one of the heads of state, for whom the Government of India had rolled out the red carpet to welcome him to attend PM Modi's swearing-in ceremony for his second term as PM.

Also, it should be noted that Bhutan is likely to be the third nation which PM Modi is expected to visit since having returned to power. This is likely to further strengthen the relationship. The dates for the meeting is still to be announced by the External Affairs Ministry.