Fourteen months after being re-elected as Nepal’s Prime Minister, KP Sharma Oli is planning to visit New Delhi in the next few months and plans to invite PM Narendra Modi to visit Kathmandu later this year, according to people familiar with the matter. In a recent interview to a local media platform, Oli downplayed differences with India and said the bilateral ties were free of any irritants. “Visiting India is not as big a deal as some make it to be, but it is important too. Most likely, I am visiting India… The visit happens after both sides arrange and prepare for it… some prime ministers used to apply for an India visit, but it should be done in an appropriate way. I have also invited Modi ji,” he told the Dishanirdesh YouTube channel.
Nepal’s leading English media daily, The Kathmandu Post, reported on Monday that Oli could be on a two-day visit to India in mid-September. “The visit is confirmed. That much I can say at the moment,” it said, quoting the foreign affairs ministry spokesperson Lok Bahadur Chettri. “The date will be announced later. The ministry has also started groundwork for the visit.” Oli has met Modi twice since last year, in New York and Bangkok.
India is hosting home secretary-level talks with Nepal from Tuesday, after a gap of nine years, where issues such as extradition treaty, mutual legal assistance and intelligence sharing will be discussed. Issues related to border infrastructure, maintenance of boundary pillars and drug trafficking will also be discussed.
