Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra and his Nepalese counterpart Sewa Lamsal on Wednesday reviewed various key aspects of India-Nepal bilateral ties.

Lamsal is in India in her first foreign visit after assuming charge as Nepal’s foreign secretary recently.

“The two foreign secretaries held discussions on the entire range of multifaceted cooperation between India and Nepal and also followed up on the seventh-India-Nepal joint commission meeting,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. The joint commission meeting was co-chaired by the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Nepalese counterpart N P Saud in Kathmandu last month. “The visit is in keeping with the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between the two countries and the priority India attaches to its relations with Nepal under its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy, and provides an opportunity to further advance our bilateral ties,” the MEA said on Lamsal’s visit.

Foreign Secretary Lamsal is visiting India to participate in the eighth Asia Economic Dialogue being jointly convened by the MEA and Pune International Centre on Thursday in Pune.

Nepal is important for India in the context of its overall strategic interests in the region, and the leaders of the two countries have often noted the age-old “Roti Beti” relationship.

The country shares a border of over 1,850 km with five Indian states -- Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Land-locked Nepal relies heavily on India for the transportation of goods and services.