Vibrant Gujarat: Spotlight turns on Bhutan PM Tshering Tobgay

GANDHINAGAR: Even as some of the world’s most influential leaders spoke at the Vibrant Gujarat Summit on Sunday, landlocked Bhutan’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay clearly stole the hearts, earning maximum round of applause from the audience.

Speaking extempore before world dignitaries, he invited leading corporates from across the globe to do business with Bhutan, stealing some of the thunder in Narendra Modi’s own backyard. Delivering his address minutes before the PM, Tobgay said he is on an economic pilgrimage — ‘an arthik yatra’ to India. “The pilgrimage starts here from Gujarat,” Tobgay told a packed audience at the Mahatma Mandir.

“When Gujarat vibrates, its ripples spread through India and the world, even through the mighty Himalayas to Bhutan,” he added. Breaking into chaste Hindi amid his immaculately-worded speech, Tobgay described Bhutan as a small economy of a mere $1.7 billion. He said it would be smaller than some of the dignitaries’ personal networth. The audience included India’s top billionaire Mukesh Ambani.