Delhi to raise issue with new govt
Amidst a raging controversy over the withdrawal of oil and kerosene subsidy to Bhutan, India has said that it doesn’t want to take any action that would harm the Himalayan kingdom and that it would discuss the matter once the new government is in place there.
While New Delhi has said that it would not the people of Bhutan to undergo any hardship, it has also said that “we would need to go into some careful accounting just how much is exactly being used”.
Importantly, India has also said that the present situation has arisen owing to the fact that the Xth Plan under which it providing financial assistance to Bhutan having expired on June 30 and the new plan not being finalised as Bhutan is in the midst of elections. It’s noteworthy that Bhutan in view of its elections also does not have a domestic budget in place.
Under the Xth Plan, India provided development assistance to the tune of `3,400 crore to Bhutan. In fact, Bhutan gets the major chunk of the money earmarked for disbursement under the development assistance head provided by India. Further, sources said that despite serious budgetary constraints, India even refunded `300 crore worth of excise duty to the Bhutan government.
Top government sources said on Thursday that it has already been conveyed to the Bhutanese that India “won’t want to take any action that would harm the people of Bhutan”. It has also told Thimphu that the matter of oil and kerosene subsidies would be discussed in detail once the new government takes charge.
Conceding that an “unprecedented and extraordinary situation” had been created for both India and Bhutan, official sources said Plan discussions will be held soon.
India’s bid to reassure Bhutan comes after the interim government chief Sonam Tobgye wrote to the government saying that India’s decision would impact Bhutan’s poor who depend on these commodities.
Official sources while stating that the nature of Indo-Bhutan ties is “special” did concede that the “timing could’ve been handled a little better” with regard to the stopping of oil and kerosene subsidies”. They further said, “We should’ve worked with IOC to find a solution” and that the oil company instead of writing to Bhutan directly should’ve communicated with the ministry of external affairs.
Post new comment