India and Bhutan – Exemplary Neighbours by Amb. Gautam Bambawale, Praneet Shukla, Manasi Pendharkar

India’s current Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri, who took charge on 15 July 2024, visited Bhutan for his first official trip abroad. While visiting India’s steadfast neighbour, the Foreign Secretary’s itinerary included an audience with the King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk. This highlights Bhutan’s cruciality to India’s strategic interests and the historical partnership that exists between the two countries. It is in this context of essential bilateral relations and its evolving dynamics that this issue brief situates itself.