Kathmandu, July 31:

Accompanied by an entourage comprising his daughter and Minister without Portfolio Sujata Koirala, personal physician Dr Arjun Karki, foreign affairs’ adviser Dr Aditya Baral, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala left for Colombo via New Delhi today to attend the 15th SAARC Summit.

CA chairman and ministers had arrived at the Tribhuvan International airport to bid farewell to Koirala.

British ambassador Dr Andrew Hall, Indian ambassador Rakesh Sood and Chinese ambassador Zheng Xianglin were also present.

However, leaders of the CPN-Maoist and CPN-UML were not present.

Upon his arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, Koirala was welcomed by Indian Minister of State for Industrial Policy and Promotion Ashiwini Kumar, Nepal’s ambassador to India Dr Durgesh Man Singh and officials of the India’s Ministry of External Affairs. Koirala left for Colombo after spending two-and-a-half hours at the VVIP lounge of the airport.