PM Oli attends Modi’s swearing-in ceremony
Kathmandu, May 30
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli this evening attended the swearing-in ceremony of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a second term.
Oli, who reached New Delhi this afternoon, is among heads of state/government of six nations that comprise the sub-regional grouping of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation.
Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan comprise the BIMSTEC states.
Besides BIMSTEC leaders, Modi also invited Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth and Kyrgyzstan President Sooronbay Jeenbekov for the oath-taking that took place at 7:00pm.
Modi had invited leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation during his swearing in ceremony in his first term as prime minister.
Oli reached New Delhi on a Nepal Airlines flight at around 3:00 pm where he was received by Secretary (West) at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs A Gitesh Sarma, Nepal’s Ambassador to India Nilambar Acharya and Indian Ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri, among other officials.
Following the swearing-in ceremony that lasted for around two hours, Oli attended a banquet hosted in honour of visiting dignitaries at India’s Rastrapati Bhavan.
Tomorrow, Oli will hold a brief courtesy meeting with Modi. According to officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meeting will last for around 15 minutes where matters related to bilateral relations will be discussed. Oli will also be extending invitation to Modi to visit Nepal.
“The courtesy meeting will be brief where congratulations and best wishes will be exchanged,” said a MoFA official, adding that Oli will also hold meeting with other BIMSTEC leaders attending the swearing-in.
Oli is accompanied by his spouse Radhika Shakya, Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi, Ambassador Acharya, and Oli’s Foreign Relations Adviser Rajan Bhattarai, among others. Oli will return home tomorrow afternoon.
