Nepalese PM to visit Varanasi during his India visit from April 1-3

Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba will visit Varanasi during his official visit to India from April 1 to 3.

As per the itinerary, he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 2.

This will be his first visit to India after becoming Prime Minister of the Himalayan Kingdom in July 2021. He has visited India in each of his four earlier stints as PM. His last visit to India was in 2017.

This visit is a part of the tradition of periodic high-level exchanges between the two countries. It would give an opportunity to both sides to review the entire gamut of bilateral relations including development and economic partnership, trade, cooperation in the health sector, power, connectivity, people to people links and other issues of mutual interest.

This comes after Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi's conclusion of his three-day visit to Nepal.

Wang's Nepal visit comes in the backdrop of Nepal ratifying the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact, a grant of USD 500 million developmental assistance from the US to Kathmandu, seen as a setback for China.

The Chinese official, associated with China's diplomatic corps in Kathmandu, said that in the lead up to the compact's endorsement, there was a lack of coordination among the Chinese agencies handling Nepal. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, he also said the communication gap between Beijing and the Chinese Embassy was also growing, according to the Annapurna Express article.

Nepal's federal parliament did ratify the compact, as the Americans wished, but in the run-up to ratification, Beijing tried hard to stop it.

It sees the USD 500 million development grant to Nepal as a part of America's strategy to encircle China, the article noted.