Three years ago, Bhutan announced a mandatory programme to train all youth who had turned 18 in sectors such as agriculture, entrepreneurship, construction and technology. But it was only this year, as unemployed youth started to leave the country in large numbers, that the Gyalsung (“service to the nation”) initiative was fully launched.
Since 2022, the tiny Himalayan country of Bhutan has witnessed a surge of citizens leaving for other countries. That year, the country’s only international airport at Paro recorded 16,973 outward migrants – a cause of worry for a country with a population of 7.7 lakh.
Nearly 30% of those leaving the country were below 35 years, reported the government-owned daily Kuensel.
The exodus of Bhutan’s younger people and skilled workers is a concern for India as well. People-to-people relations have been a central aspect of the Indo-Bhutanese relationship. Over the decades, thousands of Bhutanese have come to India to be educated and receive technical training.
The goodwill this has generated has fostered support and sympathy in Bhutan for better relations with Delhi and deterred the influence of China in the Himalayan region. This explains Bhutan’s support for trilateral negotiations on Dokalam. Though this region in Bhutan is claimed by China, Thimphu agrees that New Delhi should have…
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