Wednesday saw India’s ambassador to Nepal, Naveen Srivastava, pay a courtesy call on Nepal’s deputy prime minister, Narayankaji Shrestha. During their conversation, the two leaders also touched on bilateral cooperation, border security issues, and the upcoming official visit to India by prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
According to Shrestha’s Secretariat, the deputy prime minister expressed optimism that the itinerary for the 68-year-old prime minister’s trip to India would be finalized soon and expressed confidence that the current administration will continue to improve ties between the two nations.
Srivastava said at the meeting that he was actively trying to make the scheduled visit to India by Prime Minister Prachanda a reality.
Shrestha said that delicate topics like border control and countering cross-border crime should be the subject of an open discourse between the two nations.
He also expressed optimism that the Prachanda-led coalition government will continue to strengthen relations between Nepal and India.
On December 26 of last year, Prachanda was sworn in as prime minister of Nepal after leaving the pre-election coalition formed by the Nepali Congress and uniting with the opposition leader KP Sharma Oli.
Prachanda traveled to India in July of last year at the request of BJP National President J P Nadda. He had also spoken with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar at the time in addition to the BJP president.
