Modi in Nepal, meets Oli in temple

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a two-day trip to Nepal, on Friday met his Nepalese counterpart K.P. Oli at the famous Ram Janaki temple here.

Oli, dressed in a salwar kurta, welcomed Modi at the temple after he arrived here in the morning for his third official visit to the Himalayan nation.

The two leaders jointly performed a special puja at the shrine in the temple town of Janakpur, some 225 km from capital Kathmandu.

Modi's visit to Nepal comes a month after Oli visited India.

"These high-level and regular interactions reflect my government's commitment to the 'neighbourhood first' policy, in consonance with the motto of 'sabka saath, sabka vikas'," Modi said in a statement.

Modi and Oli are expected to jointly flag off a direct bus service from Janakpur to Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.

They will also inaugurate the inclusion of Janakpur at Ramayana Circuit under the Indian government's Swadesh Darshan scheme.

Modi will then attend a civic reception organised by the Janakpur sub-metropolitan city.

He will leave for Kathmandu later in the day to hold delegation level talks with Oli.

--IANS

ksk/sar