Bhutan PM At NDTV World Summit

The Global South trusts India’s leadership and Prime Minister Narendra Modi can sort out issues between Russia and Ukraine, Bhutan Prime Minister Dasho Tshering Tobgay said at NDTV World Summit today. “The world needs India and I am very happy that you have identified this century as India’s century,” he said, referring to the theme of the NDTV summit.

“India has the largest population in the world, it has a booming economy. It has crossed 3 trillion US dollars, it should have crossed 5 trillion US dollars had it not been for Covid. India has almost 35 million people in the diaspora. By every measure, this is India’s century. But in one measure, you stand out: leadership, and trust in that leadership. Not just Indians trusting India’s leadership, but the Global South trusting India’s leadership,” he said.

“The Global South looks to India for leadership. As a matter of fact, if there is any country that can sort out today’s problems, it is India. For economic problems, the world looks to India as a market, during the Covid pandemic, the world looked to India for vaccines and medicines. Even Russia and Ukraine, if there is any person who can sort it out, I do believe, it is Prime Minister Modi,” the Bhutan Prime Minister said.

Earlier, responding to a question on how his years as a student in the US had moulded him, he said, “The better question would be how India moulded me to serve my country. I was born in India in 1965 in Kalimpong, West Bengal where my parents were serving. I studied for 11 years in India. Many other Bhutanese studied in India in those days because we did not have enough schools in Bhutan. We grew up under the parentage of Indian teachers and I do believe, they taught us well because we have been able to go back home and serve our king, our country and our people.”

Praising India’s fight against climate change, the Bhutan Prime Minister said, “India is being a role model for the world, 1.5 billion people, you need energy to fuel that growth. But India is not shirking its responsibility to fight climate change.”

Speaking on Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness, he said Gross National Happiness is a development philosophy that emphasises the happiness and well-being of our people as the core purpose of growth. “Gross National Happiness recognises that economic growth is important, but that growth must be balanced with social progress, environmental sustainability, cultural preservation and good governance,” he said.

Saying that the Bhutan government measures Gross National Happiness every five years, he said, “The purpose is not to measure the happiness of the people. It is to measure the Gross National Happiness situation of the country as how people perceive it to be. Nine domains are divided into 33 variables and 150 questions and this questionnaire is rolled out. That index has been increasing slightly, indicating that the country’s Gross National Happiness is rising. But that does not mean we are the happiest people in the world.”