India, Bhutan to renew pact on trade, commerce and transit

NEW DELHI: India and Bhutan have decided to renew the existing ten year agreement on trade, commerce and transit which is set to expire this month.

However, till the time a new agreement is put in place, the two countries have decided to extend it by a year.

"Both sides agreed that, in the interim, to prevent disruption of trade, the existing agreement may be extended for a period of one year or till the date of coming into force of the new agreement, whichever is earlier," the commerce ministry said in a release after discussions with a Bhutanese delegation on July 5-6 here.

The existing Agreement on Trade, Commerce and Transit between India and Bhutan was signed on July 29, 2006 for a period of ten years.

The major items of exports from Bhutan to India are electricity, base metals, minerals, chemicals, cement and wood products while the major exports from India are petroleum products, mineral products, machinery, automobiles, vegetable, nuts, spices, processed food and animal products.

India’s exports to Bhutan were $441.5 million in 2015-16 while imports were $279.6 million.