Staff Reporter:
The visit of Bhutanese Prime Minister Dasho Tshering Tobgay to Bangladesh has reaffirmed the deep-rooted friendship and goodwill that have long shaped bilateral relations, according to a joint statement issued yesterday during his ongoing three-day state visit here.
Prime Minister Tobgay is visiting Bangladesh from 22 to 24 November at the invitation of Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus.
Upon arrival at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, the Bhutanese premier was received by the Chief Adviser and accorded a Guard of Honour and Gun Salute. He later paid tribute to Bangla-desh’s freedom fighters by laying a wreath at the National Martyrs’ Memorial in Savar and plant-ing a sapling on the premises.
Prime Minister Tobgay also paid a courtesy call on President Mohammed Shahabuddin, while Chief Adviser Yunus hosted a state banquet in his honor.
Adviser for Foreign Affairs Md Touhid Hossain and Adviser for Commerce Sk Bashir Uddin sepa-rately called on the visiting prime minister.
The two leaders held official talks on 22 November in a warm and cordial atmosphere, reflecting the time-tested nature of Bangladesh–Bhutan ties. They reviewed the entire spectrum of bilateral relations, with special focus on trade, connectivity, economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.
Recalling that Bhutan was the first country to recognize Bangladesh on 6 December 1971, the Chief Adviser expressed deep gratitude for Bhutan’s steadfast support during the Liberation War. Both sides also reflected on the visit of the King of Bhutan in March, 2024, which had bolstered bilateral cooperation.
Bangladesh and Bhutan underscored the need to enhance trade and private-sector collaboration. Prime Minister Tobgay held discussions with Bangladeshi business leaders to explore new oppor-tunities in investment and commerce.
Dhaka appreciated the Bhutanese King’s vision for the Gelephu Mindfulness City and reiterated its willingness to support the initiative. Both sides noted positive progress of the Joint Working Group for developing the Bhutanese Special Economic Zone in Kurigram.
Bangladesh proposed supplying pharmaceutical products to Bhutan on a government-to-government basis, acknowledging that such cooperation would improve Bhutan’s access to afford-able and high-quality medical supplies.
The leaders expressed satisfaction with the implementation of the Agreement on the Movement of Traffic-in-Transit, noting the completion of the trial run of goods from Chattogram Port to Buri-mari Land Port.
Prime Minister Tobgay thanked Bangladesh for increasing the annual allocation of MBBS/BDS seats for Bhutanese students in public medical colleges to 30, following the King’s visit last year.
Both sides appreciated the ongoing cooperation in human resource development, connectivity, tourism and culture. In the presence of the two leaders, two Memoranda of Understanding were signed – MoU on Trade of International Internet Bandwidth and Other Telecommunication Ser-vices and MoU on Appointment of Health Workforce.
To further strengthen bilateral cooperation, Bangladesh offered, 10 earmarked engineering seats annually for Bhutanese students at BUET, one dedicated seat at BKSP for a diploma in sports sci-ence, along with access to home-ground facilities for Bhutanese sports teams and specialized pro-fessional training programs for Bhutanese experts.
Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing cooperation at bilateral, regional and sub-regional platforms including SAARC and BIMSTEC, based on shared values, mutual respect and common aspirations for peace and prosperity.
Prime Minister Tobgay expressed gratitude for the warm hospitality extended to him and his dele-gation.
He invited Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus to visit Bhutan at a mutually convenient time.
The premier is accompanied by Lyonpo D.N. Dhungyel, Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade, Lyonpo Namgyal Dorji, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Employment, and senior Bhutanese officials.
