‘PM Narendra Modi Is My Margdarshak’: Bhutan PM Tshering Tobgay | EXCLUSIVE

The Prime Minister of Bhutan, Tshering Tobgay in an exclusive conversation with Republic Media Network revealed the core principles that guide his leadership, offering a glimpse into his childhood in India, his deep-rooted connection to Indian culture, and his steadfast dedication to Gross National Happiness.  Tobgay also delved deeper into his yet to be launched book titled as “Enlightened Leadership-Inside Transition From Monarchy To Parliamentary Democracy.”

Reflecting on his childhood in Kalimpong and his enduring affection for Indian sweets like rasmalai, the Prime Minister's Tobgay ties to the region are undeniable. He also spoke about his warm relationship with Prime Minister Modi, further highlighting the strong bond between Bhutan and India.

Edited Excerpts:

You were born in India. You have studied in India for 11 years. You were born in West Bengal. How did your upbringing in India and the time that you spent in India shape you as a leader?

What I am today, I have a lot to be grateful for my upbringing in India. I don't know about being born in India, how that affected me and how that shaped me, but definitely having spent 11 years of my most formative years in Kalimpong, that must have shaped me in one way or the other. And obviously, I have many good memories, many of my fondest memories, my childhood memories of growing up in India.

Do you have any memories?

I have many memories. Apart from falling in love and having a girlfriend, I have many memories.

You wrote a book ‘Enlightened Leadership'. Tell us what prompted you to write this book?

Well, it was during COVID-19, I had a lot of time on my hands and I had just lost an election. And like all other Bhutanese, I am very grateful for the peace, stability, and prosperity that we enjoy in Bhutan.

Amazed at how a small country can enjoy such a vibrant democracy. And the more I thought about it, it was obvious that it was all because of our beloved monarchs. And I see them as enlightened kings, enlightened leaders, enlightened monarchs.

And really Bhutan is known to the world as the happiest country. I must correct you when you say that I place happiness above all else, it's not me. This is what our kings have given us. This is the philosophy of Gross National Happiness that our kings have given us. Our job is just to be true to the principles and ideals of Gross National Happiness and try our best to serve our King, our country, and our people. But Bhutan, because of that, is known as a happy country.

Bhutan is known as a unique country. Bhutan is known as an environmental leader, a champion of climate change and environmental conservation. But what Bhutan is not known for is a unique democracy.

The way democracy was started in Bhutan. At a time of unprecedented peace and stability in the country. When our king, our beloved King, at the peak of his popularity, when all the people loved our King, when the King bestows democracy on the people, imposes democracy on the people against the will of the people.

And not just saying, "Okay, here, now you start democracy," but rather guiding us very gently, carefully, over many years, ensuring that we understand the nature of democracy. 

We understand not just our rights, but also our responsibilities to ensure that democratic Bhutan has all the institutions that are required, from an independent judiciary, a judiciary that enjoys the trust and confidence of the people, to an election commission that's totally independent, to an anti-corruption commission and so on and so forth. And so the way democracy was imposed on Bhutan, the way we crafted our constitution, I thought was extremely important for our people, the younger generation, to understand.

And I thought it was important for us to share the story with the world.

Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi was elected as the Prime Minister of India, how do you see the Bhutan-India relationship in the last 10 years?

The relationship between India and Bhutan is unique; this friendship has stood the test of time. We've been close, not just neighbors, but friends, ever since the independence of India. And we've enjoyed this friendship. Regardless of which political party and which leadership was there in India and in Bhutan, our friendship is really the guiding light.

The beacon of our friendship is our kings who have made it extremely clear that India is our closest friend and neighbor. Regardless of which political party, regardless of which political leadership, we have always enjoyed good relations. However, those relations were taken to a higher level when Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji became Prime Minister in 2014.

I happened to be the Prime Minister. I happened to be serving as the Prime Minister at that time. And Prime Minister Modi chose Bhutan to be the first destination that he visited outside India when he was Prime Minister for the first time. I had the good fortune of being invited to the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Modi and his cabinet in 2014, and again last year, also at his third term as Prime Minister, I had the good fortune of being invited for the swearing-in ceremony.

While we have enjoyed good relations under Prime Minister Modi, our relations have been taken to an even higher level. Our friendship has become even stronger under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi of India and under the continued guidance and leadership of our beloved monarchs in Bhutan.

And I just want to ask from you what kind of rapport you share with Prime Minister Narendra Modi? Can you just throw light on that?

You just mentioned it. He's my Bade Bhai. And that is the type of relationship that we enjoy. He's not just a Bade Bhai. He's my margadarshak, my mentor. I see him as a mentor.

And this is the type of relationship that we enjoy on the part of Prime Minister Modi. He is very affectionate towards me and very supportive of everything that we do in Bhutan.

Sir, in your book, you have written a chapter completely on Gross National Happiness, how it works and the various dimensions of it?

This is something that His Majesty the Fourth King started and gave Bhutan in the 1970s. And ever since then, we've been following the principles and ideals of Gross National Happiness. If people are going gaga over the economy, GDP , the question we must ask ourselves is GDP for what? GDP and economic growth must serve our purpose. And according to GNH, that purpose has to be the well-being and happiness of our people. You can have the biggest GDP, but if the people are not happy, if they do not enjoy good levels of well-being, then we must ask ourselves, why do we emphasize continued growth of GDP over Gross National Happiness?

The idea is to ensure that the happiness and well-being of the people are the focus, are the principal focus in our development agenda. And we do that by balancing economic growth, which is absolutely necessary, with social progress, cultural preservation, environmental conservation, and good governance. And so our economy has grown over the last few years.

But our economy is sustainable and it is largely equitable. But on social progress, we've made huge progress. All our children go to school. Education is free of cost, healthcare is free of cost. We have good social security. A lot of that has been achieved because of the friendship and support of the government and people of India, and particularly my Prime Minister Modi ji.

In terms of culture, Bhutan enjoys a unique culture, and we see ourselves as custodians of this unique culture. In terms of the environment, we are not just a carbon-negative country. We are a biodiversity hotspot and we are heavily carbon-negative.

We sequester more than three times the amount of carbon dioxide equivalent that we emit each year. But the biggest result of Gross National Happiness is good governance and the way democracy was started and the way democracy is being implemented. So these are some of the benefits of Gross National Happiness.

We have seen in the different rankings that Scandinavian countries like Finland and Norway and all these countries top that list. And in one of the lists, Bhutan is the 95th happiest country in the world. How do you explain that? Because Bhutan's complete emphasis is on Gross National Happiness. But there are Scandinavian countries which are topping that list, and Bhutan is ranking in the 95th spot.

So ranking is important, measuring is important. But what's more important is how you measure what you measure. The fact that Finland has always topped the happiness ranking is good for Finland, good for Norway, good for Denmark.

They have always topped the ranking. We cannot take away anything from those countries. But GNH ensures that we in Bhutan obsess about the happiness and well-being of our people.

This is not to say that we have to be placed number one. One of the important factors that go into the ranking is GDP, specifically per capita GDP. And our per capita GDP is nowhere near the per capita GDP of the Scandinavian countries, and thereby itself would see us slide down the rankings. However, there is another issue. We are not featured in the more recent rankings because we want to work with people who assess happiness levels across the world.

I think it's very important. But when we don't know who is actually collecting data, what data they are using, and none of that is shared with us, it is not proper. Their purpose of ranking is not just to publish a ranking.

The purpose of rankings must be to help countries improve their own systems and to increase the happiness and well-being of their own people. So we are not being ranked anymore because we disagree not just with how the ranking is developed, but rather how the information is collected. And we have absolutely no idea how the information is collected.

As far as we are concerned, what we measure in Bhutan is more important. Now in Bhutan, we have a GNH index. We have a GNH survey every five years.  And these surveys, they measure nine domains, 33 indicators, 156 odd questions. This gives us a wealth of data that we can use to understand the happiness and well-being levels of our country at this time and to formulate policies to ensure that we can address areas that are weak and leverage areas that we are strong in. So we are much more interested in our internal measurement.

Bhutan explicitly assigns responsibility for making people happy through Article nine of your constitution. So how does the government ensure that people are happy in Bhutan?

You've read the book very closely. The constitution states that it is the responsibility of the state to provide the conditions for the pursuit of GNH.

What are the conditions? Healthcare, education, living standards, psychological well-being, environment, governance, time use, community vitality, culture. So these are the nine conditions, across the domains of Gross National Happiness. The conditions that promote Gross National Happiness.

So it is the responsibility of the government, the state, to ensure that these conditions are nurtured so that our people can improve their happiness and well-being levels.

What kind of collaboration on the economic front are you looking at with India?

As far as economic partnership with Bhutan and India is concerned, a lot of the assistance provided by the government of India to the tune of Rs 10,000 crores in the next five years will go towards social development, infrastructure construction, and stimulating our economy. That partnership alone is going to enhance Bhutan's economy.

But beyond that, we have huge partnerships in terms of hydropower development. Most, in fact, almost all of our hydropower projects have been developed in partnership with the Government of India. Now going forward, we are working with the private sector in India to accelerate the development of hydropower.

We have huge hydropower potential to continue growing in Bhutan. We need Energy. But India also needs energy, specifically green, renewable energy. So this partnership, I think, will benefit both our countries. How we use that energy is also in terms of driving technology is going to benefit both our countries. Tourism is another area where we believe that our partnership is good and we have a lot of potential to increase and strengthen that partnership.

But whether it is in energy, technology, or tourism, while there is a lot to do, any industry that we establish in Bhutan, the very fact that we are placed as India's immediate neighbor, the very fact that there's 140 crore customers across the border and that we not only enjoy a free trade agreement with the government of India, but we enjoy excellent relations and friendship with India means that all of this is going to be viable. Most specifically, the King has developed an entire city along the border with India, Assam , specifically called the Gelephu Mindfulness City.

Now, what happens in the Gelephu Mindfulness City? Is it going to benefit Bhutan? Yes, the future of Bhutan? Yes.

But the idea is that it's going to benefit India, and therefore, this is a true partnership that is being developed— a partnership that is the royal vision of His Majesty the King, but also a partnership that has the blessings and support of Prime Minister Modi.

I want to get your initial reaction on the proposed new rail line connecting Assam's Kokrajhar with the Gelephu town in Bhutan, offering the first rail connectivity for Bhutan. So, what do you have to say about it?

This is a huge gift to us. We know that constructing railroads is extremely expensive. We know that India has many competing priorities. But this is the level of trust, confidence, support, and friendship between India and Bhutan that, in spite of all these competing priorities, a railroad is being constructed. In fact, two railroads— one to the western part of the country, the other to the center, which is going to connect Kokrajhar in Assam to the Gelephu Mindfulness City— are being constructed. This is going to benefit.

This is a gift to Gelephu Mindfulness City and the people of Bhutan. But this gift is going to benefit not just the Gelephu Mindfulness City and the people of Bhutan, but it's going to enhance connectivity with India and, therefore, benefit India and the people of India as well. Do you have any timeline for this? As in, when will these projects be completed and we can seamlessly travel through the railways from Assam to Bhutan? It may be done as soon as possible.

There's a lot of excitement, but it is being built in India by the Indian government. And therefore, we are told that this is going to be taken up as a matter of urgency.
 

However, if you wish to travel seamlessly to Bhutan, you can travel by road and you can travel by air anytime, any season.

I want to get your thoughts on India's Neighborhood First policy. Do you feel that the Neighborhood First policy is bearing fruit for India as well as its neighbors?

I can't speak about neighbors, but I can speak about Bhutan. Yes, it is bearing fruit for Bhutan, and I do believe for India as well. The Neighborhood First policy is bearing fruit for both countries, as far as I'm concerned.

For Bhutan too, but as a friend of India. For India too.

But what I would like to share, my observation is that when leaders all over the world—leaders of big countries, powerful countries, rich countries, as well as leaders of small countries—when every leader focuses on their own country, you have a leader like Prime Minister Modi who focuses on the whole neighborhood, who has articulated his policy as Neighborhood First, not just India First. I think this is something that the entire neighborhood should think about very carefully and might want to acknowledge the generosity of India and benefit. Just like Bhutan is benefiting from this policy.

Bhutan's economy is primarily, primarily tourism-driven. Why such caution as far as tourists coming to Bhutan are concerned?

The drivers of Bhutan's economy are mainly energy, agriculture, followed by some manufacturing. Tourism is important. And if you open the floodgates to tourism, we will make a lot of money.  But at what cost? We will destroy the very things that you want to see in Bhutan— our culture and our pristine environment. And therefore, we have to be mindful of what our carrying capacity is.

In fact, we have to be mindful of what our welcoming capacity is. Because we've got to welcome tourists from the bottom of our hearts. And we cannot destroy that.
And this is why we've been cautious. And this is why we have always had a policy of high value, low volume tourism. And this is why to implement this unique policy, we have implemented something we call the Sustainable Development fee.

So foreigners are charged US $100 per night, above and beyond all the other expenses as a sustainable development fee. This money goes towards free education, free health care, and protecting our environment. For Indians, because India is our closest friend and neighbor, we have a special rate, which is barely $15 per night. It comes to about 1200 rupees per night.

And this policy is working. We have large numbers of tourists, large numbers of people who want to visit Bhutan. They are under the impression that we don't want tourists. We want tourists, but we want responsible tourists. And we are receiving many responsible tourists from India even now.

My only wish is that tourists would visit Bhutan throughout the year, especially our friends in India. This is spring, and if you come now, you'll see a lot of our trees turning green. You'll see flower buds, you'll see everything turning green. You'll see flowers emerging. And within the next two months, forget about gardens that are manicured—our entire forests are going to be blooming with magnolia and many types of rhododendron.

And this is something that you might want to enjoy in Bhutan. If you come here in the summer, when it is hot and oppressive in some parts of India— In fact, in most parts of India, Bhutan is cool, it is moist.

You can come here for a retreat, some relief from the heat and humidity in India. In the fall, we have glorious sunshine. Everything is changing. Forests are changing colors. There are a lot of festivals. Indeed, we have festivals throughout the year.

And then in the winter, our air is clean, it is clear. We have sunny days. At night, it can get nice and cool, but in the daytime, it is sunny, and it is fairly warm. So you can visit us any time of the year. So my appeal to my friends in India is: if you have Bhutan on your bucket list, remove it from your bucket list and put it on your to-do list.

Once it's on your to-do list, remember, Bhutan is not a seasonal destination. You can come throughout the year. In fact, I would recommend that you come at least four times so that you enjoy the four seasons in Bhutan.
Definitely. I think I personally want to visit Bhutan, so I will definitely come to Bhutan one day. Also, sir, I just want to ask you.

India recently held Mahakumbh, which was the world's largest spiritual gathering. What are your thoughts on that?

The very fact that our ancestors could accurately predict planetary movements thousands of years ago and that prediction is still valid today makes something like the Mahakumbh so special, so spiritual. To see the entire country, indeed the entire world, descend in one place and offer prayers simultaneously has to be an extremely spiritual moment.

You are also someone I was watching in one of your interviews, and you said that you want India to become an advanced nation as soon as possible. And you also touched upon the aspect of pollution—how the air from India, which goes to Bhutan, harms Bhutan and that you want that pollution to diminish.

That will be wonderful for Bhutan as well. Most of the pollution is coming from burning agricultural waste stubbles, and this is harming the health and well-being of Indians first and foremost.

And then it comes to Bhutan, and it causes a lot of inconvenience. Also, as India develops, as India grows, I know that this is something that will be taken care of fairly rapidly, fairly soon. Right?

What is your best memory when you think about India and Indian culture?

One of my favorite memories was my school. Dr. Graham's Homes was about two and a half kilometers from the Mela Ground in town. And every 15th of August, I was a part of the NCC. We got to congregate in our school as NCC cadets and march down to the Mela ground and then take part in the Independence Day festivities along with many other students from other schools, all NCC. So, this was a very powerful memory for me, something that I really looked forward to and I enjoyed.

So, any Indian—my days as an NCC cadet, and especially taking part in the 15 August celebrations. 

And sir, any Indian dish that you love a lot? Any cuisine, Indian cuisine that you love a lot?

Yesterday I ate too much rasmalai. We have a restaurant that makes fantastic Indian food, but the desserts—the rasgullas, the gulab jamuns, and the rasmalai especially—are to die for. And I ate one too many rasmalais. So you're fond of rasmalais and sweets?

Indian sweets. Who isn't fond of them?