New Delhi, May 31, 2023, Special Correspondent

New Delhi, May 31: On his first bilateral trip abroad after assuming the top office in December 2022, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpakamal Dahal 'Prachanda' arrived here Wednesday on a four-day visit to India for talks with his counterpart Narendra Modi on boosting bilateral cooperation in areas of energy, connectivity and trade.

 

The two leaders will meet on Thursday, officials said.

 

Nepal is important for India in the context of its overall strategic interests in the region, and the leaders of the two countries have often noted the age-old "Roti Beti" relationship.

 

Transforming the civilisational ties between India and Nepal with deeper cooperation in areas of connectivity, economy, energy and infrastructure is expected to be a focus area of talks between Modi and Prachanda.

 

One of the key priority areas would be to further deepen the power sector cooperation through new initiatives across the entire spectrum of cooperation. The India-Nepal joint vision statement on power sector cooperation of April last year is considered a milestone and Nepal has been exporting over 450 MW of electricity to India.

 

The two prime ministers are also likely to review the India-Nepal development partnership which forms the key pillar of the bilateral relations. Strengthening the financial connectivity between two countries would be a discussion point.

 

In April last year, RuPay card was launched in Nepal during the visit of the then Nepalese prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to India.

 

Earlier, Prachanda had visited India in 2016 and in 2008 in his capacity as the Nepalese prime minister.

 

A high-level delegation is accompanying Prachanda.

 

The Nepalese prime minister is also scheduled to call on President Droupadi Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar.

 

Nepal is considered an important country for New Delhi as it shares a border of over 1850 km with five Indian states -- Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Land-locked Nepal relies heavily on India for the transportation of goods and services.

 

Nepal's access to the sea is through India, and it imports a predominant proportion of its requirements from and through India. The India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1950 forms the bedrock of the special relations between the two countries.

 

On Friday morning, the Nepalese prime minister will travel to Indore and will leave for Kathmandu the next day.