New Delhi: Bhutan’s PM Tshering Tobgay has called Prime Minister Narendra Modi an “avatar of Vishnu,” a moniker he said he didn’t use lightly. Tobgay shared his thoughts in an X post, titled “An avatar for our times,” reflecting on a private meeting with Modi in July 2019, when Tobgay was neither Bhutan’s Prime Minister nor a member of Parliament.
About the meeting, Tobgay wrote that he thanked Modi for support during his earlier tenure and told him that he saw him as an “elder brother”.
In that same conversation, Tobgay then told Modi that he actually saw Modi as an “avatar of Vishnu,” adding that enlightened rulers had long been regarded in this way “in our part of the world”. At first, Tobgay admitted, he wondered if he had been carried away, but later concluded that he was right. Looking back, he said he is convinced he was right.
Tobgay, who returned as Bhutan’s Prime Minister in January 2024, said he tracked Modi’s journey closely, both as chief minister of Gujarat and then as India’s Prime Minister. He credited Modi with promoting development, infrastructure, investment, technology and governance, while saying what struck him most was Modi’s “dedication to serving his country and his people”.
To Prime Minister @narendramodi,
An avatar of our times pic.twitter.com/84RDOEfELm
— Tshering Tobgay (@tsheringtobgay) October 7, 2026
He also linked his description of Modi to the Buddhist tradition of Rigsum Gonpo, a trinity of Bodhisattvas associated with wisdom, compassion and courage. Tobgay said he viewed these qualities as central to enlightened leadership.
He brought up Modi’s vision for “Viksit Bharat”, or a developed India by 2047, and pointed out how Bhutan and India have always had a close bond. He recalled that Modi’s very first foreign trip as Prime Minister in 2014 was to Bhutan, where Modi described their friendship as “B4B: Bharat for Bhutan; Bhutan for Bharat”.
India isn’t just a good neighbor in spirit. It’s also backing Bhutan’s 13th Five Year Plan with Rs 10,000 crore, with projects covering everything from infrastructure to health, education, energy, and digital connectivity, he added.
Tobgay didn’t stop at praise, he emphasised that Modi received Bhutan’s highest civilian honor, the Order of the Druk Gyalpo, and said he personally looks up to Modi as a mentor.
The two heads of government met again on 14 March, 2024. Tobgay told Modi he had reflected on his words from 2019, and now believed he knew which avatar of Vishnu he meant. “Vishnu’s final avatar—the one associated with overcoming disorder, restoring dharma and ushering in renewal. Kalki,” Tobgay wrote.
The remarks came as Modi marks 25 years in government leadership, since his appointment as Gujarat’s chief minister back in 2001.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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