Bhutan polls bring cheer to Delhi

DEVADEEP PUROHIT, TT, 20 Oct 2018, Calcutta: Bhutan's relationship with India is non-negotiable and the next government in Thimphu will try its best to take India-Bhutan ties to new heights, said Tshering Lotay, who is all set to be the next Prime Minister of the Himalayan country that held its third general election on Thursday.

"Our views are very clear on foreign policy and we believe that it cannot change every five years. Our King (Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck) will be the guiding force on matters of foreign policy… And on India, we believe that Bhutan-India relationship is non-negotiable," Lotay told The Telegraph over phone from Thimphu.

His party, Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT), swept the polls by winning 30 out of the 47 seats in a country of around 8 lakh people.

The elections in the tiny Himalayan country wedged between giant neighbours India and China were watched very closely in Delhi because of Bhutan's strategic location. The 72-day standoff between Indian and Chinese troops on the Doklam plateau last summer reinforced the country's importance as a buffer between India and China.

In the poll season, Delhi got the first jitters when the People's Democratic Party (PDP), led by outgoing Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, was knocked out in the preliminary round amid murmurs that proximity to India had cost it dear.

Then, in the run-up to the final round between the two top parties from the primaries, the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) built its campaign around the theme of self reliance, which was interpreted as an attempt to de-couple from India.

As Jigme Thinley -- the Prime Minister of the DPT government between 2008 and 2013 -- had in 2012 met the then Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Rio de Janeiro and later that year made a bid for Bhutan to get a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council, a verdict in favour of DPT could have added to India's concerns in its neighbourhood.

Against this backdrop, the election results and the first reaction of the head of the next government must have come as a relief for Delhi. Within hours of the final results being announced on Friday morning. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called up Lotay.

"I was honoured to receive a call from the Indian Prime Minister this afternoon. He said that the Indian foreign secretary will soon visit Thimphu and also invited me to visit India... I am looking forward to the visit," said Lotay.

The centre-left DNT contested the polls with the promise of "narrowing the gap".

"Despite the economic progress, the disparity between the haves and have nots has been growing... We want to change the philosophy of economic development by distributing the benefits of growth to all sections of the society," said Lotay, a doctor by profession.