Tele-medicine services will become operational between India, Bhutan and Sri Lanka by the end of this year, Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.

“To start the tele medicine services by September this year, a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between India and Bhutan,” he said adding that this service would become operational between India and Sri Lanka too by the year end.

Addressing the 29th Annual Convocation of Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research India, the Foreign Minister emphasized the importance of conducting a lot more grass-roots research on epidemiology of diseases on infections, on nutrition and its interaction with disease process, on simplified treatment regimens, and so on.