Manohar Lal Advances Infrastructure Cooperation in Bhutan

Shri Manohar Lal, Minister for Power and Housing and Urban Affairs, spent the third day of his visit to Bhutan engaging with local development and heritage sites, visiting Khuruthang Town to gain insights into municipal initiatives and urban infrastructure planning and inspecting aspects of local service delivery. He also visited Punakha Dzong, one of Bhutan's most significant historical, cultural and administrative landmarks, to observe conservation and adaptive use of heritage buildings. The minister's itinerary included meetings with local officials and reviews of ongoing projects to assess priorities for future collaboration.

He later visited Simtokha Dzong, described as the oldest fort established by the founder of Bhutan in the 17th century, and took part in a ceremonial lighting of butter lamps that emphasised cultural continuity. Subsequently he met Lyonpo Chandra Bahadur Gurung, Minister for Infrastructure and Transport of the Royal Government of Bhutan, and held discussions that concentrated on bilateral cooperation in infrastructure development, urban amenities, enhanced connectivity and integrated transport systems. The discussions examined technical cooperation, capacity building and potential joint initiatives in urban planning and transport policy.

During the engagements he attended a presentation on Gross National Happiness (GNH) and the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC) initiative, which set out Bhutan's distinctive approach to sustainable and holistic development and community wellbeing. In the evening he visited the Buddha Dordenma Statue and Kuensel Phodrang Nature Park in Thimphu, which provided insights into the integration of cultural assets with natural heritage and public space management.

He is scheduled to interact with the Indian diaspora in Bhutan, whose contributions have been noted as strengthening bilateral ties. The visit was described as reinforcing the exemplary India Bhutan partnership rooted in mutual trust and shared values and as underlining a shared commitment to deepen engagement across development, urban affairs and people to people connections overall.

Related Stories