New Delhi, July 2 (IANS) India Thursday pledged $2 million for the victims of flash floods in Bhutan and offered its full support to Thimphu to host the 16th Saarc summit in April next year.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh conveyed his sympathies for the loss of lives and property in recent floods in Bhutan, a joint statement said a day after Manmohan Singh held talks with his Bhutanese counterpart Lyonchen Jigmi Y. Thinley.

In a gesture of solidarity, India extended assistance worth Rs.10 crore (over $2 million) to the victims in Bhutan of this tragedy, the statement said.

Manmohan Singh and Thinley reviewed an entire gamut of bilateral relationship and focused on expanding ties across sectors, including hydrosphere generation, trade and investment, infrastructure development and cooperation in new areas like IT.

Thinley, the first foreign leader to visit India during the second term of Manmohan Singh, pitched for more Indian investment in hydel power sector, IT, hospitality, health and education in his country.

Bhutan, the idyllic Himalayan state that is known for measuring national wealth in terms of ‘gross national happiness’, held multi-party elections last year, making the country the youngest democracy in the region.

Manmohan Singh assured full support to the Bhutanese government in hosting the 16th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) in Thimphu in April next year.

During his five-day visit that began Sunday, Thinley called on President Pratibha Patil and met Congress chief and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi. He also met External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani. Thinley returns to Thimphu Friday.

“All the meetings were very friendly, warm and cordial, reflecting the spirit of trust, cooperation and deep understanding that mark the bilateral relations between India and Bhutan,” the joint statement said.

The two sides reiterated their commitment to achieving the target of 10,000 MW of hydroelectric generation in Bhutan by 2020 and decided to hold the next meeting of the empowered joint group to fast-track implementation of hydro power projects next month.