New Delhi: In response to a query about whether boundary issues will be discussed between India and Nepal during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Nepal, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra on Friday said that India always maintained that the existing bilateral mechanism was the best way forward to deliberate upon such issues. The matter should be discussed responsibly without any 'politicization', he added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on an official visit to Lumbini on May 16, on the occasion of Buddha Purnima. PM Modi will be visiting Nepal at the invitation of Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
While addressing a special media briefing on PM Modi's visit to the Himalayan nation, Foreign Secretary Kwatra said, "PM Modi's talks with his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba at Lumbini in Nepal will cover a comprehensive agenda to further expand cooperation in the multiple areas, including hydropower and connectivity." "The fact that a return visit has been taking place in quick succession was the reflection of our closeness to high-level exchanges as well as an upward trajectory in the mutually beneficial ties," Kwatra added.
Read: PM Narendra Modi holds talks with Nepal PM Sher Bahadur Deuba in Delhi
Foreign Secretary Kwatra further said the visit will reaffirm India's commitment to strengthening ties with Nepal and demonstrate the priority that New Delhi attaches to the neighbourhoud. This will be Prime Minister Narendra Modi's fifth visit to Nepal since 2014. At Lumbini, Prime Minister Modi will visit the sacred Mayadevi temple to offer prayers. Indian Prime Minister will also deliver an address at the Buddha Jayanti event organised by the Lumbini Development Trust under the aegis of the Government of Nepal.
In a separate function, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the foundation stone laying ceremony for the construction of a Buddhist Culture and Heritage centre building. The building of the Buddhist centre will be built on a plot belonging to the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), New Delhi situated within the Lumbini Monastic Zone. Both the Indian Prime Minister and his Nepal counterpart will also hold a bilateral meeting. Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Nepal has been in keeping with the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between the two countries to furtherance India's Neighborhood first policy. The visit underlines the shared civilizational heritage between the people of the two countries.
