Itanagar: Governor Brig (Retd) BD Mishra has emphasised strengthening the age-old relationship between the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan.
“Both Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan have strong traditional and cultural links. There are great similarities in their social and cultural heritage,” Mishra said while interacting with Jigme Thinyle Namgyal, the Consul General of Bhutan in Guwahati, who called on the governor at Raj Bhavan here on Wednesday.
Mishra, during the meeting, suggested a ‘people to people’ contact and interactions through cultural exchange programmes and the exchange of literature.
He called for exploring avenues in tourism, spiritual aspects and horticulture for the socio-economic progress of the people of both countries.
The governor, who is also the chief rector of Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU) and president of the North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology (NERIST) Society, suggested students and faculty exchange programmes between Bhutanese Universities and RGU and NERIST.
Namgyal on the day also called on Chief Minister, Pema Khandu at his civil secretariat office here.
Sharing information about the meeting on Twitter, Khandu said, “We need to learn a lot from Bhutan and replicate them in our collective pursuits to achieve multiple milestones of development without compromise with our rich cultural legacy.”
“Glad to have a courtesy meeting with Consul General of Bhutan in Guwahati, HE Shri Jigme Thinlye Namgyal Ji. Stressed the need to expand trade, cultural, tourism & R&D collaboration between Bhutan & Arunachal along with a robust people to people contact programme,” the chief minister earlier said in his tweet.
The Bhutanese Consul General also met Chief Secretary, Dharmendra later in the day during which they discussed matters related to trade and culture between Arunachal and Bhutan.
To further strengthen the bond, Namgyal and Dharmendra shared the common vision of promoting trade, culture, education and tourism between Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan.
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