The former King of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, turns 70 on November 11, 2025. The father of the current King of Bhutan is popularly known as K4 (the fourth King of the Wangchuck line), while his son Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, who sits on the throne at present, is referred to as K5.
Jigme Singye Wangchuk is held in great esteem, awe, pride and reverence by his people who often call him the Bodhisattva King. He ruled Bhutan from the age of 17 years till he abdicated in 2006 in favour of his son.
He is revered almost like a Buddha because he ruled wisely, honestly and literally dragged Bhutan into the 21st century, modernising it in many ways. Now, to mark his 70th birth anniversary, there is a huge celebration in Thimphu on November 11, for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting India’s mountainous neighbour.
Two nations, their close ties
Mr. Modi has always given much importance to India’s relationship with Bhutan. In 2014, on being elected Prime Minister, he had not merely spoken about Neighbourhood First but had also made Bhutan the first foreign country he visited. Now too, Mr. Modi realises the tremendous significance that the birthday celebrations has for the people of Bhutan and is ensuring that he is with them in this time of joy. His visit is an apt signal of how close the people of India are to the people of Bhutan.
It was K4 who further strengthened Bhutan’s relationship with India, during his reign as king, exhibiting great understanding that independent India was a close friend of his nation for which all threats to its independence, sovereignty or way of life came from its north and not from the other direction. It was Jigme Singye Wangchuck who got India’s Border Roads Organisation to build, operate and maintain the road network of his country. Today, Bhutanese firms are capable of doing this on their own and have rightly been tasked with this. Again, it was Jigme Singye Wangchuck who saw the potential of generating electricity from Bhutan’s rivers and supplying it to India, thereby enabling a steady revenue stream for his nation, which in turn has lifted incomes there.
Hydropower diplomacy
Hydropower cooperation between India and Bhutan has, over the years, developed into one of the strongest and most significant pillars of the relationship between the two countries. Therefore, it is apt, symbolic of this friendship and significant in itself, that the Punatsangchhu II hydroelectric project will be formally inaugurated by Mr. Modi and K5 during the trip. The 1,020 MW project has been generating electricity for some months now, helping Bhutan in further raising its economic profile.
The Punatsangchhu II project, like many of its predecessors, was constructed as a cooperative venture between the Government of India and the Royal Government of Bhutan, with India providing the initial capital for it — this is paid off by the project from the income stream generated by the sale of electricity to India at rates which are competitive but adjusted every few years to reflect current realities.
This model has worked well till now but it has been decided that in future, the two countries must tap other sources of capital for such hydropower projects. Now that private capital is readily available in adequate quantity, future projects are to be done by private firms of India in collaboration with Bhutanese companies. Significantly, Tata Power and Adani Power have readily taken up a few of the projects on offer in Bhutan.
India continues to provide development assistance to Bhutan beyond hydropower whether it is for community development projects or larger schemes that range from infrastructure development to upgrading older institutions and even monasteries.
Issues of national security
K5 continues to seek his father’s — K4’s — advice on matters of national security. Whether it pertains to the territorial integrity of Bhutan or to the operational readiness of the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA), K4 is always consulted by his son. K4 has a deep understanding of not merely India and how its democracy functions but also about Communist China, what motivates and drives that nation and the implications it has for Bhutan-China relations.
India will always be grateful to K4 for having personally led Operation All Clear in December 2003 where the RBA drove out several hundred cadres of Indian insurgent groups that had taken shelter in the jungles of Bhutan just across Assam and West Bengal. On India’s side of the border, the Indian Army was able to easily arrest these Indian insurgent groups and proceed against them as in the law.
Thus, November 11 is not merely the birthday celebration of a sage and wise former King of Bhutan. Mr. Modi’s presence at these events in Thimphu also makes it a celebration of India-Bhutan friendship and cooperation.
Gautam Bambawale is a former Indian Ambassador to Bhutan and is currently Trustee of the Pune International Centre
Published – November 11, 2025 12:08 am IST
