Nepal Prime Minister K P Oli arrives in New Delhi on 3-day visit

Nepal Prime Minister Oli with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Oli is on a three-day visit to India. Express Photo by Amit Mehra

Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli arrived in New Delhi on a three-day visit Friday. Oli, accompanied by his wife Radhika Shakya, was received by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and MoS Finance SP Shukla. Oli is expected to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to strengthen the partnership between the two countries, particularly after an acrimonious two years where Oli had accused India of masterminding the 135-day blockade of Nepal.

Oli’s visit is in line with the tradition of a Nepalese premier visiting India on his first overseas trip. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to tell his Nepali counterpart K P Oli that he can award as many dam projects as he likes to China, but India will not be able to buy the energy produced.

A senior official had earlier told to the Indian Express that Oli’s three-day visit will be couched in the niceties of diplomatic prose, but there will be no denying “India’s red lines.”

Nepal Prime Minister KP Oli with Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Express Photo by Amit Mehra

The Nepal PM’s agenda for today includes a business luncheon and an interaction with the Nepalese community living in India. He will also meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the delegation-level meeting on Saturday.

Pacts related to agriculture, research and development, education and training, exploring the possibility of inland water navigation upto Indian ports from Nepal, and expansion of Indian rail upto Kathmandu from the countries’ border have reportedly been agreed by the two sides.

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“India and Nepal enjoy age-old, special ties of friendship and cooperation. The upcoming visit will provide an opportunity to the two sides to review wide-ranging cooperative partnership, and to progress it further for the benefit of the two peoples,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

See Photos | Rajnath Singh receives Nepal PM KP Oli 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Oli twice to congratulate him on his victory. External Affair Minister Sushma Swaraj had visited Nepal before Oli took office to congratulate him for the victory of the Left Alliance in the Parliamentary and Provincial elections. Besides his visit to New Delhi, Oli will on Sunday visit the G B Pant University of Agriculture and Technology in Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. He will visit the Breeder Seed Production Centre and an integrated farming project there. The Prime Minister will also be conferred with a Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science at the university. He will leave for Kathmandu later in the evening.