Building a Stronger Partnership: India's Proactive Approach towards Bhutan under the Modi's Government

Abstract

Looking at India's security setting within South Asia, Bhutan has always remained vital for the security of the great power, India, besides maintaining and preserving the status quo within the South Asian region. More to the point, Bhutan offers a vital linkage between Indian ascendency and the country's continually concerned north-eastern region. Contrasting his antecedent, Prime Minister Modi, subsequently his overwhelming election triumph in 2014, paid an official visit to Bhutan as his foremost authorized diplomatic endeavour to remunerate augmented consideration towards Bhutan, India's small neighbour. Seeing the global and regional setting, Modi's visit to Bhutan is regarded as one of the most decisive for Modi's regional stratagem. Furthermore, this visit was distinguished since Bhutan had on no occasion earlier been a neighbour to earn the primary meet. Therefore, a step has been taken by the Modi government to cultivate trust towards India by promoting and strengthening its ties with its small neighbours, furthermore, to curb the growing Chinese footprints in South Asia. As a result, in the present paper, an attempt has been made to characterize the foreign policy approach of India towards its small and landlocked neighbour, Bhutan, their increasing ties along with the changing regional dynamics of South Asia under the Modi government.