India sends senior BJP leader Vijay Chauthaiwale to Nepal

KATHMANDU: After three back-to-back high-level visits from New Delhi in the last two months, India's ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) has sent its foreign affairs department chief, Vijay Chauthaiwale to Kathmandu in an effort to mend ties with Nepal.

At the invitation of BishnuPoudel, Secretary General of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP), Chauthaiwale arrived here on Thursday and held talks with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

In the meeting, Oli and Chauthaiwale discussed on how to strengthen the people-to-people relations between the two countries, RajanBhattarai, foreign relations advisor to the Nepalese said. On Friday, Chauthaiwale took to Twitter to confirm his meeting with Nepal's Foreign Minister PradeepGyawali, "during wchich we discussed several issues of mutual interests". He thanked the Minister "for sharing your insights".

According to sources, Chauthaiwale is expected to meet SherBahadurDeuba, President of the opposition Nepali Congress, later in the day.

He will also meet leaders of the JanataSamjabadi Party Mahantha Thakur, RajendraMahato and UpendraYadav, among others. A leader of the NCP said that Chauthaiwale is in a mission to extend and expand ties with major political forces of Nepal as per the BJP's wishes to strengthen party-to-party relations.

Another message Chauthaiwale wants to deliver is that who ever is in power in Nepal, the BJP wishes to work with them as they do not have any liking or disliking in political dispensation in Kathmandu, the leader added. Earlier, the BJP used to send its Secretary-General Ram Madhav to Kathmandu. After Chauthaiwale became the in-charge of foreign department cell of the BJP, this is his second visit to Kathmandu.

Chauthaiwale's trip comes after Indian Army Chief General ManojMukundNaravane, Foreign Secretary Harsh VardhanShringla and Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief Samant Kumar Goel's visits to the Himalayan nation in the last two months. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Gyawali is slated to embark on a trip to India this month. (IANS)

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