In her first maiden official visit to India, Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba, Foreign Minister of Nepal, paid a courtesy call on call Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, in New Delhi on Monday.

Given the current situation, the meeting of Nepali foreign minister Dr. Rana with prime minister of India is highly significant to further strengthen the civilization relations between the two countries.

Although this is first official meeting of Dr. Rana to PM Modi, she joined several meetings with PM Modi during her husband Sher Bahadur Deuba’s tenure as a prime minister of Nepal.

New Delhi based Nepal expert Navita Srikant in her tweet writes,” Honourable Dr Arzu Rana Deuba, Foreign Minister of #Nepal called upon the Honourable Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of #India this evening. The two leaders from the civilizational states exchanged views on bilateral relations, especially people to people ties and committed to strengthening the multifaceted ties. On the occasion, Hon Minister Dr Deuba also conveyed the warm greetings of Rt Hon Prime Minister Shri K P Sharma Oli ji to Prime Minister Modi ji and extended invitation from Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to PM Modi ji for a State Visit to Nepal.”

According to a press release issued by Nepalese Embassy in New Delhi, during the call on visit, views were exchanged on further consolidating Nepal-India relations and expanding mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.

“While conveying warm greetings and best wishes from Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, she handed over his invitation to Prime Minister of India for a state visit to Nepal,” states a press release issued by Embassy of Nepal in India.

“Foreign minister Dr. Rana is official visit to India from August 18-22. Earlier today, she called on External Affairs Minister of India Dr. S. Jaishankar and held an official meeting. External Affairs minister of India Dr. Jaishankar also hosted a luncheon meeting in honor of FM Dr. Rana,” said press release.

Embassy of India to Nepal also issued a press release on visit of Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nepal Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba to India.

“At the invitation of the External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nepal, Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba is on an official visit to India from 18-22 August 2024.”

“The Foreign Ministers held bilateral talks on 19 August, covering the full range of the India-Nepal bilateral partnership. The Foreign Ministers reviewed the progress made in various bilateral initiatives and developmental projects and also discussed opportunities for further collaboration in the existing and new areas of mutually beneficial cooperation.”

“India and Nepal are close and friendly neighbours with deep historical, civilizational, cultural, and people to people linkages. There has been sustained momentum in the recent years in the implementation of India assisted projects in Nepal, which is especially manifested in the fields of connectivity – physical, digital as well as people to people, including in the infrastructure and other projects related to cross-border railways, roads and bridges, Integrated Check Posts, petroleum pipelines, and digital financial connectivity.”

The two sides also noted the progress made in the mutually beneficial partnership in the field of power sector cooperation, where Nepal can now export electricity close to 1000 MW, creating additional source of revenue for Nepal and clean energy for India. In this connection, both Foreign Ministers noted the unprecedented opportunities in the power sector cooperation that would be available on implementation of the Long Term Power Trade Agreement.

Noting that sports is emerging as another area of cooperation between India and Nepal, the recent facilitation of providing training for the Nepali cricket team at the National Cricket Academy, Bengaluru was also welcomed.

During her visit, Foreign Minister of Nepal also called on the Prime Minister. Ways for further strengthening India-Nepal cooperation in a variety of mutually beneficial areas were discussed in the meeting.

Nepal is a priority partner of India under its Neighbourhood First policy. The Foreign Minister’s visit is in keeping with the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between the two countries. The visit also provided an opportunity to discuss and identify newer areas of cooperation to further advance our bilateral ties.