As PM Modi visits Bhutan, Jairam Ramesh recalls Nehru’s arduous 1958 trek to Paro

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Bhutan, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday drew attention to a “most unusual” journey made by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to the Himalayan kingdom 67 years ago, a visit he said laid the foundation for the enduring India-Bhutan relationship.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Bhutan on Tuesday morning.

“Landed in Bhutan. Grateful to Prime Minister Tobgay for the warm and gracious welcome at the airport. This visit reflects the deep bonds of friendship and cooperation shared between our two nations. India and Bhutan enjoy a time-tested partnership anchored in trust, goodwill and mutual respect. I look forward to further strengthening our close ties during this visit,” the PM wrote on X.

In a detailed post on X, Ramesh recounted how Nehru, accompanied by Indira Gandhi and senior officials including Jagat Mehta, Nari Rustomji, and Apa Pant, had undertaken a strenuous journey to Bhutan in September 1958. “Nehru first flew to Bagdogra and then drove via Gangtok to Nathu La on a road that had just been constructed,” he wrote.

From there, the delegation, greeted by “a dozen yaks, several ponies, and a pack of over a hundred animals”, trekked roughly 50 kilometres over five days to reach Paro on September 23, 1958, braving altitudes as high as 15,500 feet.

Nehru and his team spent five days in Paro, holding official meetings and attending cultural programmes before trekking back along the same route.

“This extraordinary visit under very difficult conditions by a Prime Minister about to turn sixty-nine was to determine the course of the special relationship that Bhutan and India have had for almost seven decades,” Ramesh noted.

He said that officials who accompanied Nehru, Mehta, Rustomji, and Pant, later wrote “delightful accounts” of the trek that made diplomatic history.

Ramesh also shared links to archival material and footage documenting the historic expedition.