{"id":268495,"date":"2023-11-08T21:00:58","date_gmt":"2023-11-08T15:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=268495"},"modified":"2023-11-09T14:35:21","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T09:05:21","slug":"on-india-bhutan-relations-closer-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/on-india-bhutan-relations-closer-together\/","title":{"rendered":"On India-Bhutan Relations \u2013 Closer together"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source:<\/strong> The post on India-Bhutan relations is based on the article \u201cCloser together – India and Bhutan can change the development story of the region<\/strong>\u201d published in The Hindu on 8th<\/sup> November 2023.<\/p>\n

UPSC Syllabus Topic:<\/strong> GS Paper 2 International Relations \u2013<\/strong> India and its neighbourhood – relations.<\/p>\n

News:<\/strong> This article discusses the outcomes of the recent meeting of India’s Prime Minister and Bhutan’s King Wangchuck.<\/p>\n

A detailed article on India-Bhutan relations<\/strong> can be read here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What are the various development initiatives being planned by India and Bhutan?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Rail Links:<\/strong> Discussions are ongoing for establishing rail connections between Kokrajhar in Assam and Gelephu in Bhutan; and between Banarhat (West Bengal) and Samtse (Bhutan).<\/p>\n

Infrastructure Upgrades:<\/strong> Checkpoints along the India-Bhutan border are being upgraded to facilitate easier trade and movement.<\/p>\n

Special Economic Zone:<\/strong> Bhutan plans to set up a Special Economic Zone at Bhutan\u2019s southern border with Assam to drive growth and investment.<\/p>\n

Airport Development:<\/strong> A new airport at Gelephu is proposed to increase accessibility and promote economic development.<\/p>\n

Energy Integration:<\/strong> An ‘energy exchange’ is planned to share hydropower resources between Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, promoting intra-regional growth.<\/p>\n

What are the implications of these initiatives?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Regional Development:<\/strong> The infrastructure projects like rail links could transform the economies of West Bengal, Bhutan’s southern and eastern districts, and northern Bangladesh.<\/p>\n

Economic Diversification:<\/strong> Bhutan’s reliance on hydropower and tourism might reduce with the proposed Special Economic Zone and new trade routes.<\/p>\n

Reduced Emigration:<\/strong> Enhanced job opportunities from these initiatives could stem the outflow of Bhutan’s educated youth and professionals.<\/p>\n

Increased Exports:<\/strong> The Preferential Trade Agreement with Bangladesh may raise the export of Bhutanese goods.<\/p>\n

Energy Distribution:<\/strong> The energy exchange program aims to distribute Bhutanese and Nepali hydropower across the region, increasing revenues and energy security.<\/p>\n

Strategic Stability:<\/strong> The projects serve as a strategic counter to China\u2019s influence and help secure India\u2019s northeastern corridor, contributing to regional stability.<\/p>\n

Question for practice:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Discuss the potential impact of the recent development initiatives agreed upon by India and Bhutan on bilateral relations between the two countries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: The post on India-Bhutan relations is based on the article \u201cCloser together – India and Bhutan can change the development story of the region\u201d published in The Hindu on 8th November 2023. UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 2 International Relations \u2013 India and its neighbourhood – relations. News: This article discusses the outcomes of… Continue reading On India-Bhutan Relations \u2013 Closer together<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230],"tags":[212,239,10498],"class_list":["post-268495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-international-relations","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":7,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1699486054},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268495\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}