New Delhi, Sep 28 (ANI): India and Bhutan have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a period of five years to facilitate exchange of knowledge and experience, information, material, expertise and technical know how, training of personnel and development of human resources in electoral matters and also for taking up joint initiatives and providing assistance to others.
The MoU was signed during the visit of Chief Election Commissioner of India, Dr. S. Y. Quraishi, signed the MoU with his Bhutanese counterpart Dasho Kunzang Wangdi during his recent three-day visit to Bhutan.
The Chief Election Commissioner of India visited Bhutan from September 16 to 18 11 at the invitation of his counterpart Dasho Kunzang Wangdi for strengthening bilateral cooperation between the two Election Commissions. Director General Akshay Rout accompanied him during the visit.
Dr. S. Y. Quraishi offered to create a SAARC Resource Centre at the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management for preserving and nurturing election related documentation in relation to SAARC countries.
The Chief Election Commissioner of Bhutan welcomed the idea and presented the first set of documents for this Resource Centre.
The Chief Election Commissioner of Bhutan requested for training of their newly inducted officers through the IIDEM platform in India. Dr. Quraishi agreed to the request and offered to train Bhutanese election officials during the process of forthcoming State elections.
The Chief Election Commissioner of India was impressed by the initiative of Election Commission of Bhutan in engaging school children for educating and persuading their parents to take part in the electoral process. Dr. Quraishi offered to adopt the model in India.
The Election Commission of Bhutan also organized field visits for the Indian delegation to give them a first-hand appreciation of the district level election functionaries.
Dr. Quraishi paid a courtesy call on the officiating Prime Minister of Bhutan, Lyonpo Yeshy Zimba, during which both sides exchanged views on strengthening electoral, democratic and governance processes between India and Bhutan.
The Chief Election Commissioner also held informal consultations with Senior Cabinet Ministers, Leader of the Opposition, Supreme Court Judges, Cabinet Secretary and other dignitaries of Bhutan. During these meetings, the Bhutanese side conveyed to the CEC their appreciation of ECI's support to introduction of representative democracy in Bhutan.
The discussions between the two Commissions were marked by special trust and a high level of understanding and cooperation. (ANI)
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