KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 27

India’s Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla left for India today after winding up his two-day Nepal visit.

During his stay in Nepal, Shringla held talks with his Nepali counterpart Bharat Raj Paudyal, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, President Bidhya Devi Bhandari and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali.

Issuing a press release, Embassy of India in Nepal said Shringla’s meetings with Nepali dignitaries were conducted in a cordial and positive atmosphere.

In their meeting, the two foreign secretaries discussed and reviewed various aspects of bilateral ties between the two countries.

They expressed satisfaction over the substantial progress being made in different sectors of cooperation despite the constraints of the pandemic, according to a press release issued by the Indian Embassy. The Nepali side appreciated the Indian government’s active facilitation in ensuring smooth and unhindered cross-border flow of trade and commerce and active implementation of development projects during this period. They also discussed the matters regarding boundary issues and exchanged views to complete the boundary work in the remaining segments.

“The two foreign secretaries agreed to maintain the renewed momentum in high-level bilateral engagements and to further strengthen the traditionally close, friendly and multifaceted partnership between the two countries,” said the Indian Embassy in its release.

Foreign Secretary called on President Bhandari and conveyed greetings on behalf of the President of India.

They discussed the close relationship between both countries and ways to further strengthen it.

During his call on Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Shringla conveyed greetings on behalf of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He apprised the prime minister of his productive meetings with Foreign Minister Gyawali and Foreign Secretary Paudyal.

He underscored the consensus between both sides to maintain the momentum in bilateral engagements, strengthen people-to-people linkages, make tangible progress on substantive and strategic bilateral initiatives and issues of mutual interest, according to Indian Embassy press release.

During Shringla’s call on the Foreign Minister of Nepal, they had a useful exchange of views on enhancing the bilateral relationship and further steps to be taken on maintaining the trajectory of exchanges and cooperation. Shringla briefed Gyawali about the notable progress recorded by India in ‘our response’ to the COVID-19 challenge.

Indian Foreign Secretary conveyed an invitation from External Affairs Minister of India S Jaishankar to Foreign Minister Gyawali to visit India for the next Joint Commission Meeting.

In a separate ceremony following the meeting, Shringla handed over 2,000 vials of Remdesivir to Foreign Minister Gyawali for treatment of COVID-19 patients.