PM on a three-day state visit to India

Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Bharat Raj Paudyal who was at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), told THT Online that Minister for Defence Ishwor Pokhrel, Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Gokarna Bista, Minister for Education Giriraj Mani Pokharel, CPN-UML Vice-Chairman and former Deputy Prime Minister Bamdev Gautam, CPN-UML leader Bishnu Poudel, former Speaker Subash Nembang and various ministry secretaries would see the PM off at the airport.

The 54-strong delegation of PM Oli includes Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Gyawali, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Matrika Yadav, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Raghubir Mahaseth, Chief Adviser to the Prime Minister Bishnu Rimal, members of parliament, chief secretary, secretaries and other high-level government officials, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After arriving in New Delhi, the PM will hold an interactive meeting with the business community of Nepal and India at around 12:30 pm. This will be followed by an interaction with the Nepali community in New Delhi.

In the evening, Oli will attend a diplomatic reception to be hosted in his honour by the Embassy of Nepal and will also have a separate meeting with members of the Nepali community.

On Saturday, Oli is scheduled to attend the ceremonial reception and inspect the guard of honour at Rashtrapati Bhavan. He will then separately call on Indian President Ramnath Kovind, and Vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu. He will pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat.

The same day, Oli will hold official meeting with Indian PM Modi, who will be hosting a banquet luncheon in honour of the visiting Nepali prime minister and his delegation. Oli will hold delegation-level and personal-level talks with Modi.

India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Home Minister Rajnath Singh will call on Oli. Senior Indian political leaders will also call on Oli.

Both the prime ministers will remotely inaugurate the Integrated Check Post at Birgunj, following which Oli will interact with the intellectual community at a civic reception hosted by India Foundation. The same day the two prime ministers will hold a joint press conference. On Sunday, Oli will attend a programme at Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology in Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, where he will be conferred Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science.

The PM will return home the same evening on a Nepal Airlines flight. Upon arriving at TIA at around 8:00 pm, Oli will also hold a press conference.

Oli has said his upcoming India visit will solely focus on strengthening bilateral relations.

Addressing the House of Representatives on Tuesday, the PM had said his India visit was part of the government’s endeavour to make neighbouring countries partners in Nepal’s development drive, and that talks would focus on how to make tangible progress on past agreements.

The issues to be discussed during the visit include modernisation of agriculture, organic farming, development of waterways, implementation of power trade agreement, expediting Pancheshwor Multi-purpose Project, attracting investment, slashing trade deficit, establishing integrated check posts, postal highways, cross-border railways, post-earthquake reconstruction, air routes, SAARC, BIMSTEC and BBIN, terrorism, human trafficking and cross-border crime.

PM Oli has said his India visit is a part of the government’s endeavour to make neighbouring countries partners in Nepal’s development drive. He has also said that Nepal will give due importance to addressing the legitimate concerns of India and raising issues of common concern, such as terrorism, human trafficking, cross-border crime and smuggling.

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