Bhutan Inspired By Malaysia's Success, Keen To Have Diplomatic Ties

By Saraswathi Muniappan THIMPHU (Bhutan), May 28 (Bernama) -- Himalayan kingdom, Bhutan, which sees Malaysia's economic success as its inspiration, is keen to have diplomatic relations with the country, its Prime Minister Jigmi Y. Thinley said. "We are inspired by the kind of leadership it has had in the past and continues to have. We are also inspired by the good governance that Malaysia has exhibited in our part of the world," he told Bernama in an interview. Bhutan, he said, also admired the way Malaysia has been able to achieve rapid economic development and how the benefits of developments had been fairly well distributed. "The benefits of Malaysia's development and economic wealth I think have accrued across all stretches of the Malaysian society. So, we would like to learn from Malaysia," he said after meeting ambassadors and high commissioners based in Dhaka and New Delhi, who represented 12 countries. Also present was Malaysia's High Commissioner to India, Tan Seng Sung. Thinley, who acknowledged that Bhutan has been slow in expanding its diplomatic ties, said it would "soon" pursue them with Malaysia. A landlocked country, Bhutan was deliberately closed to foreigners until 1974. It has since opened up and started establishing diplomatic ties with several countries. Bhutan has diplomatic relations with Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Serbia and Spain. It also has diplomatic ties with India, Bangladesh, Japan, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, the Maldives, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Australia, Brazil, Canada and Vietnam. --BERNAMA