India's Foreign Secretary Misri calls on President Paudel

KATHMANDU: Visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri paid a courtesy call on President Ramchandra Paudel today at the President’s Office, Shital Niwas.

On the occasion, President Paudel said that Nepal had benefited from the progress of its close neighbour, India, and hoped to benefit even more in future.

Kiran Pokhrel, the president’s press adviser, quoted him as saying, ‘We are pleased with the progress achieved by India, an emerging global power, in the socio-economic and technological sectors. As a good friend and close neighbour of India, Nepal has gained from India’s progress and hopes to benefit even more in future.’

Highlighting the longstanding social, cultural, religious, spiritual, economic and people-to-people relations between Nepal and India, President Paudel said those ties were founded on sovereign equality, friendly cooperation, mutual respect and trust.

He reiterated that Nepal always accorded top priority to its relations with India and applauded India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy, which underlines the importance it places on relations with its neighbours.

In response, Foreign Secretary Misri affirmed that Nepal remained among India’s top priorities under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He said that during his two-day official visit to Nepal he looked forward to engaging with relevant officials to discuss extending connectivity and enhancing development cooperation in line with the needs of the modern era and mutual interests.

Misri arrived in Kathmandu this morning at the invitation of Nepal’s Foreign Secretary, Amrit Bahadur Rai.

By RSS