Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], February 6 : Lieutenant General Batoo Tshering, Chief Operations Officer (COO) of the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA), laid a wreath at the Vijay Smarak memorial at the Vijay Durg Eastern Command Army Headquarters in Kolkata on Thursday.
The ceremony took place in the presence of Lieutenant General RC Tiwari, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the Eastern Command.
A day earlier, Batoo Tshering called on Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi and held discussions encompassing a variety of issues on bilateral relations.
During the talks, Singh reaffirmed India's readiness to support Bhutan in capability enhancement for defence preparedness, including provisioning of defence equipment and assets to augment capacities of Bhutan, as per its national priorities and in line with India's 'Neighbourhood First' policy, the Ministry of Defence said in a press release.
Tshering appreciated Government of India's continued support and thanked India in assisting Bhutan in augmenting its modern defence capacities and training of RBA. He also reaffirmed RBA's firm commitment to work closely with India in realising the shared vision for peace and prosperity in the region.
India and Bhutan share a long history of diplomatic and defence cooperation. Established in 1968, the diplomatic relationship between the two countries has always been guided by the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, initially signed in 1949 and later revised in 2007.
The two countries have maintained regular political and official exchanges, which have further cemented their strong bilateral ties. Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first overseas visit after assuming office in 2014 was to Bhutan, and he also made a state visit to the country in August 2019 after assuming office again, furthering the strategic partnership.
People-to-people ties between India and Bhutan are robust, with around 50,000 Indians working in Bhutan across key sectors such as infrastructure, hydropower, education, and commerce. These contributions have been instrumental in Bhutan's development and are widely recognised both within the country and internationally.
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