Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets the gathering during the Druk Gyalpo Award Ceremony, in Thimphu on Friday, March 22, 2024. PM Modi became the first non-Bhutanese head of state to receive Bhutan’s highest civilian award ‘Order of Druk Gyalpo’.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, March 23, 2024, inaugurated a modern hospital built with Indian assistance in Bhutan’s capital Thimphu.
Mr. Modi was joined by his Bhutanese counterpart Tshering Tobgay in inaugurating the Gyaltsuen Jetsun Pema Mother and Child Hospital in Thimphu – a Bhutan-India friendship project dedicated to the people of the Himalayan kingdom.
Mr. Modi, who arrived in Bhutan on Friday for a two-day State visit to further cement India’s unique relations with the Himalayan nation, called on the King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and held talks with Prime Minister Tobgay on Friday.
Bhutan’s King Wangchuck conferred the ‘Order of the Druk Glyalpo’ to Prime Minister Modi at a public ceremony here on Friday, making him the first foreign Head of the Government to receive the honour.
The award recognises Prime Minister Modi’s contribution to strengthening the India-Bhutan friendship and his people-centric leadership.
“It is with great humility that I accept the Order of the Druk Gyalpo. I am grateful to HM the King of Bhutan for presenting the Award. I dedicate it to the 140 crore people of India. I am also confident that India-Bhutan relations will keep growing and benefit our citizens,” Mr. Modi wrote in a post on X on Friday night.
India and Bhutan established diplomatic relations in 1968.
The basic framework of India- Bhutan relations has been the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation signed in 1949 between the two countries, which was revised in February 2007.
