Navin Chawla to visit Bhutan Oct 26-30

Chief Election Commissioner Navin B Chawla will pay a five-day official visit to Bhutan from tomorrow for bilateral discussions on election management.

The visit is at the invitation of the Chief Election Commissioner of Bhutan Kunzang Wangdi, an official press release said.

The release said Mr Chawla would call on Bhutanese Prime Minister Jigmi Y Thinley during his stay in Thimphu. He will also deliver a talk on "Political Parties: Lessons from Indian Democracy", besides travelling to other important places in the country and meeting regional election officials.

According to the release, the Election Commissions of India and Bhutan share a close relationship. They have a memorandum of understanding (MOU) of cooperation in the field of electoral management and administration that was signed in May, 2006.

Bhutan held its first parliamentary elections about a year ago and enacted its Constitution. The visit by Mr Chawla is expected to further strengthen the ongoing collaboration, the release added.

NNN