India looking forward to expanding bilateral cooperation: Sitharaman tells Bhutan FM

Sitharaman, who is on an official visit to the United States, held discussions with minister Tshering on the sidelines of annual meetings of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG).

Washington: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met her Bhutan counterpart Lyonpo Namgay Tshering in Washington on Wednesday and expressed India’s wish to expand bilateral cooperation between the two countries including hydropower, COVID-19 assistance, among other issues.

Sitharaman, who is on an official visit to the United States, held discussions with minister Tshering on the sidelines of annual meetings of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG).

---

“Union Finance Minister Smt. @nsitharaman meets with Mr Lyonpo Namgay Tshering @BhutanFinance, Finance Minister of Bhutan, on the sidelines of the IMF-WB #AnnualMeetings, in #Washington DC, today,” the finance ministry tweeted.

“The FM said that India is looking forward to expand bilateral cooperation between the two countries to new and emerging areas such as #space, #DigitalTechnologies, financial sector, health sector and tertiary education,” the ministry added.

Sitharaman reiterated that India would like to take forward and “further deepen India-Bhutan bilateral relations for the development and well-being of our people.” The Bhutan Finance Minister, on his part, thanked the Indian government for providing aid in implementing their 12th Five-Year Plan and the additional USD 200mn currency swap arrangement.

“Lyonpo Namgay Tshering @BhutanFinance expressed gratitude to GoI for providing assistance in implementing their 12th Five Year Plan and the additional $200mn currency swap arrangement. He also thanked India for the #BhimUPI and #RuPay rollout already done in Bhutan,” the ministry said.

On Wednesday, Sitharaman held back-to-back bilateral with global finance ministers and heads of the top international organizations in Washington DC on topics that centred on important economic issues.

Sitharaman is on an official visit to the United States to attend the IMF and the World Bank annual meetings, the G20 Finance Ministers and the Central Bank Governor (FMCBG) Meetings.

The Finance Minister is holding bilateral meetings with a number of countries from around the world. She is also holding one-on-one meetings with leaders and heads of OECD, the European Commission and UNDP.

On the sidelines of IMF-WB, Sitharaman met ministers from Egypt, Bhutan, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and South Korea on Tuesday. She also met OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann and FATF President Raja Kumar.

During the later part of the visit, the Union Finance Minister will attend roundtable meetings with USIBC and USISPF on themes to ‘Strengthen Investment and Innovation in India-US Corridor’ and “Investing in India’s Digital Revolution”.

These meetings with leading business leaders and investors are aimed at highlighting India’s policy priorities, and deliberate on measures to facilitate foreign investment by showcasing India’s attractiveness as an investment destination.