KATHMANDU: Vijay Chauthaiwale, the head of the Foreign Affairs Department of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), met with Nepal’s Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak at Singha Durbar on Wednesday as part of his visit to Nepal.
Their discussions focused on improving Nepal-India bilateral relations, which have occasionally been strained in recent years.
Chauthaiwale arrived in Kathmandu earlier in the day and is scheduled to meet various senior political figures, including CPN-UML Chair and former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, opposition leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda”, as well as prominent leaders from the ruling alliance and Madhesh-based parties.
According to Lekhak’s secretariat, the meeting was friendly and centered on building trust and expanding cooperation between the two neighbors.
Observers view Chauthaiwale’s visit as a diplomatic effort to ease tensions and possibly lay the groundwork for Prime Minister Oli’s much-delayed official visit to India.
He is expected to return to India on Friday, concluding what is seen as a high-level political outreach aimed at reinvigorating Nepal-India ties.
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