Foreign Minister will visit India on Jan 14: PM Oli

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli announced on Friday that Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali will visit India next week.

Oli landed in Dhangadhi today to attend a mass gathering in a bid to establish influence in the Far West where the Oli faction has very little hold.

Addressing the event in Dhangadhi, PM Oli revealed that FM Gyawali would leave for India on January 14 and would include Gauriphanta border point in bilateral discussions, among other issues.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is yet to provide a statement on the same.

Recently, some Indian media had reported that PM Oli would visit India in the near future, preparations are ongoing for which including the Foreign Minister's visit.

India-Nepal relations had experienced some lows in the recent past after India's unilateral decision to open a linkĀ  road to Kailash Mansarowar via Lipulekh. Nepal in retaliation had issued a new political map of the country incorporating Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura and Kalapani.

There have been no high-level visits to India from Nepal ever since.

On the contrary, many high-ranking officials from India including chief of foreign intelligence agency RAW, chief of Indian Army, and Foreign Secretary had visited Nepal back-to-back, recently.

Minister Gyawali's would be the first such visit after the border row between the two countries.