Geographically  Bhutan and Switzerland  looks alike with the landscape. Swiss  and Bhutaneses  has long diplomacy tie in friendship and has assisted Bhutan in most of its development  project.Bhutan and Swiss official can travel without visa ,This means that Bhutanese and Swiss officials may travel freely to each other’s country.

Diplomacy: Bhutanese and Swiss officials and diplomats will not require visa to travel to either country after the governments signed a visa exemption agreement yesterday.

Switzerland is the first country outside the region to sign such an agreement with Bhutan.  Until now, visa is exempted for diplomatic and official passport holders from Bangladesh, Maldives, Thailand and India.

For Switzerland, Bhutan is the 27th country now exempted from visa.

Foreign secretary Yeshey Dorji, who signed the agreement with the Swiss ambassador, said this was an exclusive arrangement given to Bhutan.

“The visa exemption will greatly facilitate official travel between the two countries and strengthen contacts and cooperation,” he said, adding that Switzerland is one of the oldest development partners that continue to support the country.

Foreign ministry officials said that Bhutanese, who need to attend urgent meetings in Switzerland, the hub of many international organisations, could now do so without any inconvenience.

“There were times when officials had to cancel their attendance because it took about three weeks, at the earliest, to get a Swiss visa,” an official said.

Ambassador of Switzerland to Bhutan, Linus von Castelmur, said the visa requirement waiver for officials and diplomats is an expression of trust and solidarity between the two countries, and of the desire to further strengthen friendly relations.

Official and diplomats would be permitted to stay for a period of up to 90 days without visa.

The agreement does not extend to business travellers and tourists.  Swiss tourists would require a tourist visa and be subject to the royalty as usual.

Last year, 1,035 tourists from Switzerland visited the country, an increase on the 781 Swiss, who visited three years back.

Bhutanese travelling privately to Switzerland have to send their visa applications to the Swiss Cooperation Program Office in Thimphu, not later than six weeks ahead of the expected travel date.

Bhutan and Switzerland formally established diplomatic relations in 1985.  Development cooperation started from 1960s.

The ambassador said many bilateral partnerships have formed over the years. “An active exchange between the judiciary of our countries is taking place, as part of which Bhutanese students are obtaining legal degrees from Swiss Universities for the first time,” ambassador Linus von Castelmur said.

“Bhutan has changed impressively in the past 30 years. Creativity and new thinking is required to continuously develop this partnership for the next 30 years,” he said, adding that he wishes to continue political dialogue and more professional and economic exchanges in future