As PM visits Bhutan, Congress recalls Nehru's visit when he trekked to Paro

New Delhi: With Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarking on a trip to Bhutan, the Congress on Tuesday recalled India's first PM Jawaharlal Nehru's most unusual visit to that country that involved trekking for five days to reach Paro, and said that trip determined the course of the special relationship the two countries have had for almost seven decades.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said this extraordinary visit by Nehru was under very difficult conditions by a prime minister about to turn 69.

"The Prime Minister is in Bhutan today. Sixty seven years ago, India's first Prime Minister had made a most unusual visit to Bhutan. Accompanied by Indira Gandhi and a few officials like Jagat Mehta, Nari Rustomji, and Apa Pant, Nehru first flew to Bagdogra and then drove via Gangtok to Nathu La on a road that had just been constructed," Ramesh recalled.

At Nathu La, the delegation was met with a dozen yaks, several ponies, and a pack of over a hundred animals, he said.

"It then trekked for five days covering fifty kms to reach Paro on Sept 23, 1958. There were times when the altitude touched 15,500 feet. Nehru and his team spent five days in Paro having a number of official meetings and cultural engagements," Ramesh said on X.

Thereafter they trekked back to Nathu La along the same route they had taken to reach Paro, the Congress leader said.

"This extraordinary visit under very difficult conditions by a Prime Minister about to turn sixty nine was to determine the course of the special relationship that Bhutan and India have had for almost seven decades," he said.

Mehta, Rustomji, and Pant have all left behind delightful accounts of the trek that created diplomatic history, Ramesh said.

The Congress general secretary shared a video clip on Nehru's visit to Bhutan as well as Mehta's account of the trip.

In his account, Mehta says, “In retrospect, the significance of Nehru's journey cannot be underestimated. It was the last time that any Indian dignitary went to Bhutan through Tibet but that only underlines its happenstance importance.” “In the encounters, a lesser personality than Nehru could not have blended transparent sympathy and understanding with non-domineering counsel. A more coercive diplomatic style might well have ended in polite nods but hesitant follow-up, and delayed the slow strengthening of connections to the South (India).

“If Prime Minister Nehru had not succeeded in confidence-building and encouraged the graduated opening of communications, it is possible that the road into Thimpu may not even have started for many years and correspondingly delaying its completion, and Bhutan would have perforce remained largely economically dependent on the Tibet connection. The process of internal development and political emancipation would have got stultified or not have preserved Bhutan's cultural and religious personality,” says Mehta.

Prime Minister Modi is visiting Bhutan on Tuesday to join the 70th birthday celebrations of the fourth king of the Himalayan nation Jigme Singye Wangchuck.