6/15/2014 On first trip abroad, PM Modi reaches destination Bhutan - Hindustan Times

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On first trip abroad, PM Modi reaches destinationBhutanReuters Thimphu, June 15, 2014

First Published: 10:00 IST(15/6/2014) | Last Updated: 11:59 IST(15/6/2014)

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi began on Sunday his first visit abroad since taking office as he arrived

in Bhutan to launch a drive to reassert Indian influence in the region, offering financial and technical help

and the lure of a huge market.

The tiny Buddhist nation, wedged in the Himalayas between India and China, is the closest India has to an

ally in South Asia, a region of bristling rivalry where China is making inroads.

While India has been struggling recently with policy paralysis and a slowing economy, China has been

building ports in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and in its "all-weather ally" Pakistan. China overtook India as the

biggest foreign investor in Nepal in the first six months of this year.

Modi's Hindu nationalist party has vowed to end the neglect of neighbours and in an unprecedented

gesture, he invited all regional leaders to his inauguration last month.

Read: Careful thinking went into choosing country for PM's first foreign visit

On Sunday, Modi will lay the foundation of a 600 MW hydroelectric power station in Bhutan and

inaugurate a parliament building constructed by India.

"Bhutan and India share a very special relationship that has stood the test of time," Modi said before his

departure for Bhutan's capital, Thimphu, which is nestled in mountains and was for centuries closed to

outsiders.

"Thus, Bhutan was a natural choice for my first visit abroad."

In the longer term, Modi's government aims to make India the dominant foreign investor across South Asia

as well as the main provider of infrastructure loans, in the same way China has done in much of the rest

of Asia and in Africa.

Consolidating ties with difficult neighbours like Pakistan and Bangladesh could reduce poverty and

transform regional security relationships, Indian officials say.

"Although India would like to have a greater say in South Asian matters beyond trade, so far we have not

been able to exercise substantial political clout," said PD Rai, a member of parliament from the Sikkim,

which shares a border with Bhutan.

"Modi's first visit to Bhutan will have to be looked at in this light."

'Pleasant surprise'

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6/15/2014 On first trip abroad, PM Modi reaches destination Bhutan - Hindustan Times

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/prime-minister-narendra--modi-leaves-for-bhutan-on-first-foreign-trip/article1-1229619.aspx 2/3

NARENDRA MODI BHUTAN VISIT PM BHUTAN VISIT BHUTAN INDIA-BHUTAN RELATIONS PM NARENDRA MODI

Sponsored

PM Narendra Modi picks Bhutan for

first foreign trip

Sending out a signal that South Asiawas the topmost foreign policypriority for him, Narendra Modi is allset to embark on his first ever two-

Bhutan is a natural choice for my first foreign visit: PM Modi

On first trip abroad, PM to visit Bhutan tomorrow

Careful thinking went into choosing country for PM's first foreign visit

India's neighbours have responded enthusiastically to Modi's overtures. His Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz

Sharif, overcame resistance at home to attend the inauguration even though political ties remain fragile

and marked by deep distrust.

On Sunday, giant portraits of Modi and his Bhutanese counterpart, Tshering Tobgay, were strung up

along a mountain highway with switchback bends that Modi will take from the airport to Thimphu. He opted

to go by road instead of by helicopter.

School children gathered early on the tree-lined route as prayer flags tied high on poles fluttered in the

wind. Beyond them rose dark slopes where people looked out from homes and monasteries clinging to

unlikely perches.

"Given that India has so many competing priorities and that the newly elected prime minister could have

visited any other country, it did come as a pleasant surprise," Tobgay said in an interview with The Hindu

newspaper on Saturday.

Bhutan, the size of Switzerland and with a population of 750,000, has only recently emerged from

centuries of isolation.

Read: India cornerstone of Bhutan's policy, says PM Tobgay

Its first road was built in 1962 and television and the Internet arrived in 1999.

It is the world's first country to monitor gross national happiness an alternative to gross domestic product,

to balance a tentative embrace of modernity with an effort to preserve traditions.

But Bhutan, which the made the transition from absolute monarchy to parliamentary democracy in 2008,

is struggling with high unemployment and a growing national debt.

The government that took power 2012 says rather than talk about the happiness index, it wants to focus

on obstacles to happiness.

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6/15/2014 On first trip abroad, PM Modi reaches destination Bhutan - Hindustan Times

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/prime-minister-narendra--modi-leaves-for-bhutan-on-first-foreign-trip/article1-1229619.aspx 3/3

day trip as Prime Minister to Bhutanthis month to further cementeconomic and political linkages.Prime

Bhutan ties: PM's first foreign trip on June 15-16

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