Underlining the importance of India-Bhutan bilateral ties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with his Bhutanese counterpart Lotay Tshering launched the RuPay card Phase-II today. The card will allow Bhutanese card holders to access the RuPay network in India. The Phase-I of the project was inaugurated in August last year.

The relation between India and Bhutan holds immemse importance, Modi said while launching the e-RuPay card Phase-II.

Modi expressed happiness over the progress of the ongoing work related to Bhutan's satellite which will be sent to the space with the help of ISRO next year. For this purpose, Bhutan's four space engineers would visit ISRO in December.

Tshering, lauding Prime Minister Modi's leadership in tackling the Coronavirus pandemic, expressed hopes that India will come out much stronger. He said, the lead that India has taken in developing vaccines is a source of hope for all. Tshering also thanked the Modi for the assurance to make the vaccine available for Bhutan once they are ready for commericial use.

The implementation of Phase-I of RuPay cards in Bhutan has enabled visitors from India to access ATMs and Point of Sale terminals across Bhutan. The Phase-II will now allow Bhutanese card holders to access RuPay network in India.

Modi added that Bhutan's vaccine requirements will always be top priority for India. He said the Phase II of the RuPay card project will boost bilateral ties further between the two countries..