Nepal FM Saud consults experts ahead of Jaishankar’s visit

PTI Updated: January 02, 2024 20:33 IST

Kathmandu, Jan 2 (PTI) Nepalese Foreign Minister N.P. Saud on Tuesday discussed with former foreign minister Dr Bhesh Bahadur Thapa, ex-foreign secretaries and a former ambassador of Nepal to India in connection with the upcoming visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to the country.
     Jaishankar will arrive in Kathmandu on Thursday on a two-day official visit to Nepal at the invitation of Foreign Minister Saud during which he will call on President Ramchandra Paudel and Prime Minister Pushpakamal Dahal “Prachanda”.
     "Jaishankar will hold meetings with senior leaders of political parties,” Saud told PTI.
     “External Affairs Minister Jaishankar is arriving in Nepal to participate in the seventh meeting of the Nepal-India Joint Commission (JC). The JC meeting will be led by the two foreign ministers," an official at the foreign ministry said.
     The Ministry of External Affairs has not announced the visit of Jaishankar to Nepal, the first visit abroad by the minister in 2024.
     During the meeting, former foreign minister Dr Thapa, former foreign secretaries Madhuraman Acharya, Arjun Thapa, Durga Bhattarai, Bharat Poudel and former Nepalese ambassador to India Durgesh Man Singh, among others, provided suggestions on various topics relating to Nepal-India relations, according to the Foreign Ministry’s Secretariat.
     “They underscored the importance of Nepal’s relations with the southern neighbour and suggested that the relations between the two countries should be taken forward in a friendly and cordial manner based on mutual benefits,” it said.
     The top diplomats and former bureaucrats suggested to the government to identify ways to increase Nepal’s exports to India to address the Himalayan nation's growing trade deficit, strengthen cross-border infrastructure, complete on time various development projects initiated in the past and address issues related to air routes among others, according to the secretariat.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)