First formal visit will be to India, says Prachanda

Nepal8217;s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 8216;Prachanda8217; returned home 8220;satisfied8221; with his five-day visit to Beijing...

Nepal8217;s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 8216;Prachanda8217; returned home 8220;satisfied8221; with his five-day visit to Beijing, but made a point to send a message to Delhi that the visit was not aimed at undermining Nepal8217;s relation with the South and that his 8220;formal visit8221; will be to Delhi.

Prachanda, who left for Beijing ostensibly to attend the closing ceremony of the Olympics a day after he managed to form a partial Cabinet, said he discussed about peace process, development and economic situation with Chinese leaders, 8220;but no agreement or understandings were signed as it was an unofficial visit8221;.

8220;My first visit will be India,8221; Prachanda told journalists at the airport with a message that India did not need worry about his visit to the north.

A day after he became the Prime Minister, Prachanda said that signing Kosi agreement with India was a historic blunder and that he would take it up with the international community the damage the India-built dam had caused.

8220;Chinese leaders felt satisfied with the recent political change in Nepal,8221; Prachanda said. While the Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao hosted a banquet for his Nepali counterpart, Prachanda also had a one-on-one meeting with President Hu Jintao.

He said the Chinese were interested in more investments, but did not quite divulge which areas they were interested in. He however, said there would be more visits, indicating that he will undertake yet another visit 8212; a formal and official one 8212; after he goes to Delhi.

Prachanda is the second Prime Minister in Nepal to pay the first visit to China. Tankaprasad Acharya had undertaken such a trip some 52 years ago, and had apparently declined Nehru8217;s request to first visit Delhi saying: 8220;I have already accepted the first invitation I got.8221;

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Prachanda has a standing invitation from Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to be his 8220;guest at the earliest convenient date8221;, but given India8217;s anger over Prachanda first visiting Beijing, it is not yet known whether the invitation still stands.

Maoist leaders including C P Gajurel, in charge of the party8217;s foreign affairs, however, maintain that the Beijing visit was purely in connection with the Olympic concluding ceremony and had no other signficance.