Nepal PM Prachanda’s three-day India visit starts today

Dahal’s visit to India is his first bilateral visit abroad after assuming office as Nepal’s Prime Minister for the second time, when he took oath on August 4 this year.

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ will begin a three-day state visit to India from Thursday at the invitation of Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Nepal's newly-elected Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, known as Prachanda, greets supporters as he leaves the Parliament Building in Kathmandu on August 3, 2016. Dahal is on a three-day visit to India starting Thursday.(AFP file photo)

Dahal’s visit to India is his first bilateral visit abroad after assuming office as Nepal’s Prime Minister for the second time, when he took oath on August 4 this year.

A ministry of external affairs (MEA) statement said that Dahal will be accompanied by a high-level delegation.

During his visit, Dahal would hold talks with the Indian leadership. He will also visit the Nathpa Jhakri hydropower project, a concrete gravity dam on the Sutlej River in Himachal Pradesh. The primary purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power production of 1,500 megawatts capacity.

Prime ministers Modi and Dahal will meet for delegation-level talks at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Friday. That meeting will be followed by a signing of bilateral agreements and the issue of statement to the media. Among the dignitaries expected to call on the Nepal Prime Minister are external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, home minister Rajnath Singh, finance minister Arun Jaitley and power minister Piyush Goyal. PM Dahal would also call on President Pranab Mukherjee.

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His visit to India is expected to provide an opportunity for both sides to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern, as well as seek ways to strengthen the age old, close and friendly ties between the two countries in diverse sectors, the MEA statement said.

Dahal has been warned by his predecessor KP Sharma Oli, who is the chairperson of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML), not to sign any agreement with India that could jeopardise Nepal’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.