ISAS Briefs

Setting at rest speculation about where Narendra Modi might go for his first foreign trip as India’s Prime Minister, he visited Bhutan on 15 and 16 June 2014. Briefing the media before the visit, India’s Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said, “Our relations with Bhutan are unique and especially warm. Our historical and cultural linkages make us natural friends and partners” and the “Prime Minister’s visit reflects the high priority that Government of India attaches to its relations with Bhutan and to good neighbourly relations in our South Asian neighbourhood”. Earlier, heads of governments of all the South Asian countries had been invited to Mr Modi’s swearing-in ceremony, marking the new government’s intention to focus on building friendly relations with India’s immediate neighbours.