Former Nepal PM meets Indian foreign secretary

Visiting Nepali former prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal Thursday met Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai and discussed a wide range of issues including elections to the constituent assembly in the Himalayan nation this November.

During the meeting, Nepal, a senior leader of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) appraised Mathai of the latest political situation and sought cooperation and support from international friends, including India, to hold the polls in a free, fair and peaceful environment, said Rajan Bhattarai, a member of his delegation.

Nepal and Mathai also discussed a wide range of bilateral issues particularly emphasizing that Nepal needs to focus its works in the area of infrastructure development to achieve fast economic development.

"Particularly construction of roads, communications and electricity are Nepal's top priority. He asked the Indian side for speeding up the construction of India-funded Postal Road, and sought India's assistance to construct Dolalghat-Dhankuta portion of the Mid-Hill Highway that stretches from east to west of Nepal," said Bhattarai.

Nepal also sought speeding up of the work on the Mahakali (Pancheshwor) Project, expediting work of Muzaffarpur-Dhalkebar transmission line, and concrete steps to move on the Bagmati Integrated Development Project (a comprehensive plan to clean Bagmati river and other tributaries in the Kathmandu Valley) under Indian assistance, he added.

Besides meeting Mathai, Nepal and his delegation also held talks with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader D.P. Tripathi, who appreciated Nepal and his CPN-UML's role in Nepali politics and the coordinated approach and flexible stance to find solutions to Nepal's ongoing political and social transformation issues.

Nepal also met Congress MP Sajjan Singh Verma and discussed various issues of Nepal- India relations.

Nepal is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Left leaders during his five-day visit.

Nepal arrived in New Delhi Wednesday on an invitation by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.