Senior Indian diplomat visits Bhutan on SAARC tour
Xinhua, March 1, 2015 Adjust font size:
Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar met Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay on Sunday in Thimphu and discussed cooperation between the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries as well as bilateral ties, said the Indian Foreign Ministry.
Jaishankar embarked on a four-nation SAARC visit Sunday which started with Bhutan and will also bring him to Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan next week.
This will be the first visit by an Indian foreign secretary to Pakistan after New Delhi suspended talks with Islamabad last August over the Kashmir issue.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said Jaishankar discussed with the Bhutan leaders cooperation between South Asian countries as well as ways to strengthen bilateral ties.
He said sub-regional cooperation between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal was also discussed in the talks.
India is planning an electricity grid among the SAARC nations according to an agreement among SAARC leaders at their summit in Nepal last November.
The visit, called SAARC Yatra (pilgrimage), was tasked by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to emphasize neighborhood outreach by New Delhi.
Both Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Modi visited Bhutan last year.
Modi also plans to visit Sri Lanka and the Maldives this month. Endi