Kathmandu, March 28

The Cabinet today ‘briefly’ discussed the planned India visit of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, although no decisions were taken, a minister present at the meeting said.

“PM Oli told the Cabinet that he was likely to visit India from April 6 to 8. However, there were no detailed discussions and no decisions were taken,” said the minister.

PM Oli has also publicly said that he will ‘soon’ visit India. With PM Oli himself confirming his upcoming India visit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is expected to make an official announcement ‘in a day or two’.

According to highly-placed officials at MoFA, they have expedited preparations for PM Oli’s planned India visit and are coordinating with other ministries to prepare the agenda as per the instruction of the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers. “The official announcement will be made in a day or two,” one of the officials said.

The government has also been holding inter-ministerial meetings at the OPMCM as part of preparations to finalise agenda for PM Oli’s India trip, which is expected to take place from April 6 to 8.

“Although nothing has been finalised yet, we are always ready for any such event,” said another MoFA official. “Preparations are under way.”

Speaking at a programme today, PM Oli’s close aide and a member of the Eminent Persons Group on Nepal-India Relations Rajan Bhattarai also said internal preparations had begun on finalising agenda for PM Oli’s upcoming India visit.

He said that the talks with the Indian side, during the visit, would specifically focus on economic issues and strengthening bilateral relations. “Matters related to infrastructure development, aviation, electricity, water resources and agriculture will be discussed,” said Bhattarai. “Discussions will also focus on early completion of India-funded projects in Nepal.”

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had invited PM Oli to visit India making a telephone call immediately after the left alliance of the CPN-UML and the CPN-Maoist Centre registered resounding victory in provincial and parliamentary elections that concluded on December 7, 2017.

Subsequently, Indian External Affairs Minister visited Nepal to congratulate Oli on election victory. She had also extended invitation to PM Oli to visit India.