New Delhi: Nepal’s ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) chairman Rabi Lamichhane met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar here on Tuesday, as the two sides held discussions focused on the bilateral development partnership and enhancing people-to-people ties.
Jaishankar in a post on X shared some photos of the meeting.
“A pleasure to meet Nepal’s Rastriya Swatantra Party Chairperson Rabi Lamichhane and his delegation today in Delhi. Our discussions focused on the India-Nepal development partnership and people-to-people ties. These have a crucial role in promoting growth and prosperity. @hamrorabi @party_swatantra,” the external affairs minister posted.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri was also present during the meeting.
The RSP delegation, led by Lamichhane, is on a visit to India following an invitation by BJP chief Nitin Nabin. It arrived in New Delhi on Monday afternoon.
The meeting between Jaishankar and Lamichhane comes amid the controversy over Nepalese Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s remarks about border issues with India.
Shah, the rapper-turned-politician, said in Nepalese Parliament on Sunday that apart from discussions with India on the border dispute, Nepal was in touch with China and Britain as well.
India on Tuesday categorically rejected any role for “third parties” to resolve its boundary row with the Himalayan nation.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, at his weekly media briefing, was also asked about the visit of the Nepalese delegation to India.
Jaiswal said the chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party of Nepal, Rabi Lamichhane, is visiting India. “His visit is part of the contacts that are there between the political parties of the two countries. Yes, he was received at the airport. I saw some visuals of it, but he was received by the people who invited him. So, the party invited him, and he was received by them,” he said.
The MEA spokesperson further said that Lamichhane will be having “high-level meetings” here and several other meetings.
“…these contacts are equally important, because with Nepal we have multi-faceted partnership. We have government-to-government relations, we have people-to-people relations, we have relations between cultural ambassadors of this country and cultural ambassadors of Nepal,” he added.
“It is a very wide expanse of multi-faceted partnership that we share, and we value these contacts in further strengthening and deepening our friendly partnership with Nepal,” Jaiswal said.
Earlier in the day, Lamichhane met the BJP chief here.
The delegation of Nepal’s ruling party, comprising its senior leaders, was accorded a grand welcome at the BJP headquarters on arrival.
Jaishankar in a separate post on X on Tuesday said he also met Mario Voigt, the Minister-President of Thuringia, Germany, and his delegation in Delhi.
“Delighted to meet Minister-President @mariovoigt of Thuringia #Germany, and his delegation. His strong support for expanding India-Germany and India-EU relationships is welcome. We had a good discussion on business opportunities and technology partnerships,” he said.
