PATNA: After visiting Bhutan on Wednesday, chief minister Nitish Kumar will travel to China next month.
Nitish said that he will be paying a three-day visit to Bhutan from Monday to Saturday at the invitation of Bhutan prime minister Jigme Yoser Thinley who sometime back made a pilgrimage to Bodh Gaya. Thinley had met Nitish and invited him to visit Bhutan. The external affairs ministry has given necessary clearance, he added.
During his three-day visit to the Kingdom of Bhutan, Nitish is expected to speak to the authorities there showing his interest in hydel power projects. “I will visit some power plants. We have been demanding that Bihar should get a good share of power from there,” the CM told mediapersons on Monday on the sidelines of `Janata ke Darbar Mein Mukhya Mantri` programme.
Nitish said that he would explore possibility of an agreement with Bhutan on power sharing even though there already exists an agreement between Bhutan and India. “That way, this is an issue between Bihar and the Centre,” he said.
After Bhutan, Nitish is expected to pay a six-day visit to China from June 13 to 18. “Recently, the Chinese envoy had extended an invitation to me. Earlier, the foreign secretary (India) had advised me to make a goodwill visit to China,” he said.
Both these will be state visits. A delegation of bureaucrats, including principal secretaries of energy, tourism and information and public relations, besides CM`s secretary and OSD, will accompany Nitish to Bhutan. The tourism department will also hold an exhibition in Thimpu during the official visit. However, no minister will accompany the CM.
“A big number of Bhutanese visit Buddhist sites every year and tourists from India also go to Bhutan. The two nations enjoy very cordial relationship. The ties between Bhutan and Bihar are quite emotional,” said Nitish who is expected to return on May 8.
Nitish said that he is quite interested to personally experience and feel the `gross national happiness` in the Kingdom, how it is working and how it is felt.
The Bhutan government has shown its interest to open its monastery in Bodh Gaya for which land has been allotted.
To a query about the developments in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament, the CM said that the recent happenings were quite unfortunate and unimaginable. The PAC is a constitutional body and its reports are drafted by its secretariat after deliberating each issue before giving it a final shape. There is no question of parallel PAC and holding the meeting once chairman called the official meeting off, the CM said and added that the Speaker should take a decision on the report submitted by the chairman.