Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, who is in Nepal on a two-day official visit, will hold talks with the leaders from Madhes-centric parties on Tuesday.
According to sources, Kwatra will meet with Janamat Party Chairman Chandra Kanta (CK) Raut, Loktantrik Samajbadi Party Chairman Mahantha Thakur and Janata Samajbadi Party Chairman Uprendra Yadav. He will also pay a courtesy call on Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chairman Rajendra Lingden, it is learnt.
Kwatra, who landed at the Tribhuvan International Airport this morning, was welcomed by Nepal’s Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal. As soon as he landed in Kathmandu, he held a secretary-level meeting with his Nepali counterpart Bharat Raj Paudyal at Yak and Yeti Hotel in the capital city Kathmandu.
The bilateral meeting covered a half a dozen topics of bilateral cooperation, including connectivity, electricity trade, tourism, agriculture, health and culture, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
During the meeting, both sides agreed to further strengthen their economic and development cooperation for benefits of the two countries and region as a whole.
“Foreign Secretary Shri Vinay Kwatra met his counterpart Mr Bharat Raj Paudyal and reviewed the wide-ranging India-Nepal partnership,” the Indian Embassy tweeted.
Kwatra is also scheduled to hold meetings with Foreign Minister Bimala Rai Paudyal today, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, President Bidya Bhandari. He will also pay courtesy calls on CPN (UML) Chairman KP Sharma Oli, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba among others during his stay in Kathmandu.
This is the first highest level official visit to Nepal from southern neighbor India after Maoist Center Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ took charge as the Prime Minister on December 25 last year.
Indian Foreign Secretary will return home on Tuesday.
