Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will be on a three- day visit to India from April 6. This will be Oli’s maiden foreign trip after assuming office. During the visit, Oli will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and pay courtesy calls on President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu. Oli will also visit Pantnagar (Uttarakhand) and attend a programme at the Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology.
The Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that Oli’s upcoming visit “will provide an opportunity to the two sides to review wide-ranging cooperative partnership, and to progress it further for the benefit of the two countries.”
Oli’s visit is in line with the tradition of a Nepali PM visiting India on his first overseas trip. The visit assumes more significance given the fact that India-Nepal relations suffered a dip during Oli’s previous tenure as PM in 2015 when he accused India of causing economic blockade. Oli’s minister at that point of time had even accused India of staging a coup to topple his government and Oli tried to play the China card to pin down India. However, shedding aside the unpleasantness of 2015, the two sides are now looking forward to making renewed efforts to strengthen relations. In a statement given at a luncheon he hosted in Kathmandu on Thursday, Oli said Nepal enjoys cordial and friendly relation with both immediate neighbours, India and China. “Mutual trust will be the key ingredient of our relationship. We are thankful for all the goodwill and support of our neighbours towards our national aspirations. We look forward to further strengthening these relations at all levels of our cooperation. Serving our national interest and fulfilling our legitimate aspiration of economic development and prosperity will guide our engagements,” Oli said.
In particular, we will remain engaged in the ‘vibrant economic drive’ of the neighbourhood with a view to benefitting from it. We respect the legitimate interests of our neighbours and will not allow anything against them in our soil,” Oli said.
