By IANS,
New Delhi : The railways have extended the famed Indian hospitality to Bhutan’s visiting royal couple by arranging a special luxury train for their honeymoon trip to Rajasthan.
Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema, who married Oct 13, arrived in India Sunday on a nine-day visit.
The royal couple will honeymoon in Rajasthan on the special train that will take them to its forts and palaces and its tiger sanctuaries.
The Bhutan King had visited the Ranthambhore tiger sanctuary last October and returned fascinated by the state’s forts, forests and heritage hotels.
Sources said Tuesday that following a request from the ministry of external affairs, the railways have provided a small train with a saloon — a luxury coach with a bedroom, dining space and a pantry — besides a few air-conditioned bogies to accommodate the security personnel and staff accompanying the royal couple.
“It will be a small train pulled by a light engine. It will be treated as a VIP movement on our tracks,” said a senior railway official.
The Indian Railway operates a special train on the Rajasthan circuit called the Palace on Wheels, aimed at foreign tourists.
The 31-year-old Oxford-educated monarch is a close friend of Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, who was one of few guests from outside Bhutan at his marriage reception.
Jigme Khesar and Jetsun have both lived in India during their student days.
Bhutan has no train network and India is helping the country build some rail links.