Foreign Secretary Misri arrives in Kathmandu on two-day visit

Kathmandu, Aug 11 (IANS) Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri arrived in Kathmandu Sunday on an official two-day Nepal visit at the invitation of his Nepalese counterpart Sewa Lamsal.

Misri received a warm welcome from Lamsal as he arrived at the Tribhuvan International Airport.

During his visit, Misri will hold talks with Nepalese officials on boosting the bilateral relations between the two nations to further strengthen the Indian-Nepal bilateral ties under India's 'Neighbourhood First' policy.

Earlier, announcing the visit, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that the Foreign Secretary's visit continues the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between the two nations.

"India and Nepal share an age-old civilizational, cultural, and people-to-people connect, and bilateral cooperation between the two countries has further strengthened in recent years with continued momentum in high-level exchanges and major infrastructure and connectivity projects in Nepal having been completed and new ones undertaken with Government of India's assistance," the MEA said in a statement.

"This visit of the Foreign Secretary will be an opportunity to further advance our bilateral ties," it added.

Misri's Nepal visit is also the first by any Indian official after the country's Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli assumed charge.

India has played a crucial role as a development partner to Nepal. The government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has provided substantial support and solidarity to Nepal in furthering its developmental process.

Notably, in its Union Budget 2024-25, India also allocated Rs 700 crore as aid to Nepal, up from Rs 550 crore in the last fiscal.

This is also Misri's second foreign visit following his trip to neighbouring Bhutan in July, shortly after assuming the charge as the Foreign Secretary.

Ahead of Misri's visit, marking a significant milestone in India-Nepal space cooperation, the MEA on Saturday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bengaluru-based NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) for grant assistance for the launch of Munal satellite.The satellite developed in Nepal, under the aegis of the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), will be launched on NSIL's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on a gratis basis.The MoU was signed by Anurag Srivastava, MEA's Joint Secretary (North) and NSIL Director A Arunachalam.