Nepal PM to begin fiveday visit to India from Aug 23

KATHMANDU: Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba will begin a five-day state visit to India on August 23, his first foreign trip after being elected to the post two months ago.

The visit, announced by the foreign ministry on Monday, comes against the backdrop of a nearly two-month military standoff between India and China. China has been making concerted efforts to woo Nepal and vice premier Wang Yang is scheduled to visit Kathmandu on August 14.

Nepal’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara said preparations are underway for Deuba’s visit and to set the agenda. Besides holding political talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and top leaders from ruling and opposition parties in New Delhi on August 24, Deuba will visit Bodh Gaya in Bihar and the Tirupati Balaji Temple in Andhra Pradesh. “We are working for some concrete outcomes during the visit,” Mahara said.

Mahara also said Nepal wants a peaceful resolution of the military standoff between India and China. “Nepal does not want to be dragged into the boundary dispute between India and China,” he said. “Both of our big neighbours should maintain cordial relations through peaceful diplomacy and dialogue.” He added, “We do not support any of our neighbours in this case.”

Indian and Chinese diplomats are regularly meeting Nepali officials and diplomats in Kathmandu, New Delhi and Beijing to get their support, but Nepal has been maintaining an “equidistance” on the issue.