Kathmandu, May 31

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli today held a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi. During the meeting, the two prime ministers exchanged views on maintaining the momentum generated in the recent past and expressed commitment to take bilateral relationship to a new height.

On behalf of the government and people of Nepal, Oli congratulated Modi on his assumption of office for a second term as well as for the grand electoral success of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the National Democratic Alliance in the recently-held Lok Sabha elections. Oli extended best wishes for the Indian prime minister’s successful tenure, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Oli conveyed congratulatory messages and best wishes from President Bidhya Devi Bhandari. Oli also gifted Modi holy bead, rudraksha. “Best wishes from the friendly people of Nepal. A special gift of Rudraksha for PM @narendramodi from Prime Minister of #Nepal K.P Sharma Oli,” Indian External Affairs Ministry posted on Twitter with a photo.

On the occasion, Modi thanked Oli for accepting the invitation and participating in the swearing-in ceremony.   Both the prime ministers expressed happiness over the progress made in Nepal-India relations under their respective leadership. The two leaders underlined the importance of regular

exchange of high-level visits between the two countries in order to further strengthen bilateral ties and advance cooperation in all possible areas for mutual benefit of the two countries, added MoFA press release.

Oli also conveyed cordial invitation extended by President Bhandari to Indian President Ram Nath Kovind.

After attending Modi’s swearing-in ceremony, Oli took part in a banquet hosted by Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan last evening. Oli extended invitation to Modi to pay a visit to Nepal, which Modi accepted with pleasure.

Officials at MoFA said talks did not feature any other specific issues related to bilateral relations, as it was just a courtesy meeting that lasted around 20 minutes. In a televised interview this morning, Oli said he was in New Delhi just to congratulate and extend best wishes to Modi, and not for bilateral talks. Oli, who reached New Delhi yesterday to attend Modi’s swearing-in ceremony, also met BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav today.

Oli returned to Kathmandu this evening. In his trip to Delhi, he was accompanied by his spouse Radhika Shakya, Nepal’s Ambassador to India Nilamber Acharya, Oli’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Rajan Bhattarai and Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi.