By PTI
NEW DELHI: Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba will visit the BJP office on Friday, the party’s overseas affairs cell head Vijay Chauthaiwale said on Thursday.
Deuba is on a three-day visit to India.
This is his first visit to India after becoming prime minister of Nepal.
“The prime minister of Nepal is visiting BJP office on the invitation of party chief J P Nadda Ji. He will be welcomed by the party president,” Chauthaiwale told PTI.
He further said Deuba will be accompanied by his party’s leaders and will meet other BJP leaders as well.
Sources in the BJP said the discussion will revolve around strengthening party-to-party relations.
Deuba will be accompanied by a 50-member delegation when he embarks on his maiden visit to India on Friday to further strengthen the multifaceted, age-old and cordial ties between the two countries.
This will be Deuba’s first foreign visit since he assumed office in July last year for a record fifth time.
The Prime Minister’s entourage will include his spouse Arzoo Deuba, four cabinet rank ministers, government secretaries, high officials and a business delegation, totalling 50 members, the Prime Minister’s press chief Govinda Pariyar told PTI.
A Cabinet meeting held on Thursday finalised Deuba’s delegation that includes Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Narayan Khadka, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal, Minister for Health and Population Birodh Khatiwada and Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Mahendra Ray Yadav, Pariyar said.
“The visit will further strengthen the multifaceted, age-old, and cordial ties between Nepal and India,” the ministry said on the Prime Minister’s 3-day visit.
The team will also include secretaries in the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Water Resources, Health and Population, Agriculture and Physical Planning.
Deuba will hold delegation-level talks with his Indian counterpart and also meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
Prime Minister Modi will host a luncheon in honour of his Nepal counterpart.
During his stay in New Delhi, Prime Minister Deuba will also address a gathering of business leaders.
He is also scheduled to visit the holy city of Varanasi before wrapping up his trip on April 3.
Earlier in January, he was scheduled to travel to India to participate in a business summit in Gujarat.
However, the trip was cancelled after the summit was postponed due to the growing cases of COVID-19.
Deuba and Modi had met in Glasgow, Scotland in November last year on the sidelines of the UN climate conference and had “fruitful talks” on many aspects of India-Nepal friendship.
Deuba had thanked his Indian counterpart for providing support to Nepal in essential medical supplies and vaccines in its fight against the pandemic during their first meeting in Glasgow.
During the meeting, overall matters of the bilateral relations were discussed.
Deuba’s visit is taking place soon after Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi’s three-day tour to Nepal from March 25 to March 27.
Nepal has recently appointed senior economist Shankar Prasad Sharma as its ambassador to India.
The development comes amid a senior minister in the Nepal government on Thursday extended his support to a demand to declare Nepal a Hindu state, saying if the majority of the population are in favour, it can be done through a referendum.
Minister for Tourism and Culture Prem Ale, addressing the opening of the two-day Executive Council meeting of the World Hindu Federation in Kathmandu, said the demand to declare Nepal a Hindu state can be considered and if such demand comes he “will play a constructive role”.
Minister Ale was responding to the demand raised by the World Hindu Federation here during the programme.
More than 150 representatives from 12 countries, including Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, United States, Germany and UK, are attending the two-day Executive Council Meeting.
“As the present five-party coalition government enjoys close to two third majority in Parliament, the demand to declare Nepal a Hindu state can be put into referendum,” he pointed out.
“Although our Constitution has declared the country as a secular state, if the majority of the population are in favour of a Hindu state, then why not declare Nepal a Hindu state through referendum,” he asked? Nepal was declared a secular state in 2008 after the success of the people’s movement of 2006 that saw the abolition of monarchy.
Hinduism is the largest religion of Nepal.
During the programme, World Hindu Federation International President Ajay Singh demanded that Nepal be declared a Hindu state as the country is inhabited by a huge majority of Hindu population.
“I was surprised to learn that the erstwhile Hindu state Nepal was suddenly declared as a secular one,” he pointed out.
“If some countries can be declared as Islamic states and still adopt democratic system and other countries can be declared as Christian states and still adopt democratic system, then why not Nepal be declared as a Hindu democratic country?” he questioned.
He called all the parties of Nepal to come together putting aside their political ideology and declare Nepal as a Hindu state.
“I ask the Nepali Congress, CPN-Maoist Centre, The CPN-UML and the Madhesi parties to come forward to declare Nepal as a Hindu state,” he said.
