Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday met Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and agreed to further deepen the partnership between the two countries and its peoples. Oli, who is battling pro-monarchy protests in Nepal, met Prime Minister Modi on the sidelines of the sixth BIMSTEC summit that agreed to improve cooperation in trade and transport, and step up natural disaster relief efforts in the backdrop of the earthquake in Myanmar and Thailand.

Prime Minister Modi said he had a “productive meeting” with Oli.

“India attaches immense priority to relations with Nepal. We discussed different aspects of India-Nepal friendship, especially in sectors like energy, connectivity, culture and digital technology,” Modi said in a post on X. “We also talked about some of the key positive outcomes from this year’s BIMSTEC Summit, especially in areas of disaster management and maritime transport,” he said.

Oli described the meeting as intimate and said he was delighted to meet Modi. In a post on X, the Nepali Prime Minister also said that he had a meaningful and positive conversation with Modi. The two leaders reviewed the unique and close relationship between India and Nepal and expressed satisfaction at the progress in enhancing physical and digital connectivity, people-to-people linkages, and in the domain of energy, a PMO statement said.

It said that Modi and Oli agreed to continue working towards further deepening the multifaceted partnership between the two countries and its peoples.

“Nepal is a priority partner of India under its Neighbourhood First Policy. This meeting continues the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between the two countries,” a statement from the PMO said.