Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Saturday. In the meeting, the two prime ministers held talks on various issues and both the countries finalise 4 pacts to expand ties in areas such as railways and energy.
In the meeting, PM Modi and Deuba inaugurated a cross-border rail network between Jaynagar in Bihar and Nepal’s Kurtha. They also launched the RuPay payment card and Solu power transmission line in Nepal.
After meeting Deuba, PM Modi said “Deuba ji is an old friend of India. As the PM, this is his fifth visit to India. He has played an important role in developing India-Nepal relations.”
“We discussed various aspects of our cooperation, reviewed the progress of various projects and also discussed the blueprint of the future. Both of us agree that we must reap the benefits of the opportunities for cooperation in the power sector,” PM Modi said, adding that their “Joint Vision Statement on Power Cooperation will prove to be the blueprint of cooperation, in the future.”
On this, Deuba said, “I truly admire your love and affection for Nepal and the Nepali people and my visit today will further enforce these innate sentiments.”
In the meeting, the two prime ministers will hold wide-ranging talks, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
“Working together to take India-Nepal relations to newer heights. The meeting between PM Narendra Modi and PM Sher Bahadur Deuba of Nepal gets underway. Wide-ranging talks on our multifaceted partnership are on the agenda,” tweeted MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi
.Deuba is on a three-day visit to India for his first bilateral visit abroad after becoming the prime minister in July last year for the fifth time. The PM, accompanied by a high-level delegation, arrived in New Delhi on Friday. He is visiting India at the invitation of PM Modi.
Earlier in the day, the Nepalese PM paid respects to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat in New Delhi.
On the first day of his visit on Friday, Deuba met Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) President JP Nadda at the party headquarters and discussed strengthening the ties between the Nepali Congress and the saffron party. He was accompanied by his wife Arzu Deuba, Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka, Energy and Water Resources Minister Pampha Bhusal and Health Minister Mahendra Rai Yadav during the meeting.
The Nepal PM also met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla later on the day.
“Pleased to call on PM @SherBDeuba of Nepal during his official visit to India. Confident that this visit will further strengthen our close neighborly relations,” the external affairs minister said in a tweet.
Besides official engagements in New Delhi, Deuba will also visit Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh — the parliamentary constituency of PM Modi, according to MEA.
