PM Modi's visit to Bhutan extremely satisfying: Sushma Swaraj

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bhutan as extremely successful and satisfying.

"India selected Bhutan because it is one of our important neighbours, and certainly the friendliest country. This visit has been extremely successful and satisfying. It has reinforced and further strengthened relations between India and Bhutan. In spite of being a very short visit, the Prime Minister could interact with the legislator, judiciary and executive, all the three wings of democracy," said Swaraj at a press conference here today.

Apart from addressing members of both the houses of parliament and inaugurating the building of the Supreme Court of Bhutan, the Prime Minister had very good interactions with the country's present and past monarchs," she added.

Appreciating the welcome received by the Prime Minister, she said that "We are deeply touched by the friendly gestures, the monarchy's leadership and the people of Bhutan. We are told that K5 Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck personally supervised all the arrangements. The Bhutan Prime Minister went out of his way, and he personally received our Prime Minister at the airport, and the children and ordinary people from Paro to Thimphu came with traditional offerings of fruits and flowers."

Talking about the commitments made by the previous government on the eleventh five-year-plan, Swaraj said Modi had said that "such commitments are not made by government to government, but by country to country. So, India will definitely fulfill all its commitments to Bhutan."

She said: "The hydro projects under progress in Bhutan will definitely gain speed in our governance, because the Prime Minister believes in speed."

Swaraj said that Modi's vision is that as both the countries start with the letter B, so Bharat should be for Bhutan and Bhutan should be for Bharat, because the security concerns and development visions of both the countries are same.

She ended saying, "When Modi says that a strong and prosperous India is in favor of SAARC countries, similarly, having a prosperous and stable government in the neighbourhood is in favor of India, and this is our vision.