In a first ever interview to a popular American talk show on Public Broadcasting Service, Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay called the political relationship between India and Bhutan as a “model relationship”.
“Trust, cooperation and confidence have helped build close relations between the two neighbours,”
- Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay
“In terms of economic cooperation, the center piece is hydropower, so we work together, we invest together to build our power stations.”
“Bhutan was the first foreign country that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited within three weeks of his swearing in.”
The Bhutanese PM has a “good relations” with China, but not as deep as India.
“We have a 420-kilometer border that has not yet been finalised with China. We are discussing the border and we need to finalise the border.”
When asked about existing troubles in Bhutan, the PM said the country’s problem is youth unemployment, which is about 9.6 per cent.
“We need to have investment to create jobs for them. So while this is a problem, I acknowledge it as a problem, and I don’t want to see a single Bhutanese boy or girl unemployed,” he said during the interview.
He mentioned that while the economy of the country is small but it has been given everything – health, education, infrastructure and social security.
Tobgay said in 10 years he would like Bhutan to be self-reliant in a manner its economy is green and sustainable.
“72 per cent of our country, as you know, is under forest cover. The constitution requires 60 per cent. We’ve declared that owe will be carbon neutral for all time to come,” he said.
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