This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between Bhutan and India.
To celebrate this momentous occasion, the Royal Bhutanese Embassy in New Delhi in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs of India, the Council of Cultural Embassy and the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, will be organising the Bhutan week at the IGNCA complex in New Delhi. The week-long celebrations will be from the 23rd to the 30th of September 2018.
The main objectives of the Bhutan week are –
• Celebrate the special friendship between Bhutan and India
• Generate greater appreciation in India for Bhutan as a genuine and friendly neighbour
• Promote Bhutan’s rich culture and the Bhutanese way of life
• Promote greater people-to-people relations and expand B2B relations between the two countries.
The equation that the countries share goes back centuries. Regular cultural, religious and historical exchanges have taken place between the two countries. But it’s only been in the last 50 years that diplomatic relations have been formed.
Bhutan Week; plan –
The Bhutan week will have a cross section of 300 participants. It has 15 themes including Bhutan’s 13 forms of art and craft, tourism, Bhutanese textiles and emerging fashion, Bhutanese highland culture, traditional medicines, photo exhibitions and several other interesting activities.
The 13 themes are as follows –
• Zorig Chusum, Bhutan’s arts and crafts
• Music, song, folk and mask dances
• Religious arts
• Textiles and emerging fashion
• Food fair
• Trade fair on local products
• Tourism fair
• Film screening
• Display of models of Dzongs, Lhakhangs (temples) and Tashi Gomang
• Talks and narrations
• Display of highland culture, traditions and lifestyle
• Display of contemporary arts
• Traditional medicine service
• Photography exhibitions
• Postage stamp display with unique first-of-their-kind Bhutanese stamps
Her Majesty Gyalyum Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck will grace the opening ceremony of ‘Bhutan Week’ on September 23rd in New Delhi as the Chief Guest, along with the Vice-President of India, Venkaiah Naidu. The cabinet and foreign secretaries and other senior officials of Bhutan will accompany Her Majesty.
Time –
Each day’s program will begin at 10 AM and carry on until 6 PM. In case there are scheduled evening events, then the timings shall extend.
The Bhutan Week is indeed an event that will help strengthen the existing ties between the two countries. The two neighbours already share a very healthy, friendly and amicable bond; an event of this magnitude will give the two countries confidence to further nurture the love and affection that the countries already share.