Nepal's foreign minister visiting India this week

Nepal's Minister for Foreign and Home Affairs Madhav Ghimire will be leaving here for India Tuesday on a three-day official visit at the invitation of India's Minister for External Affairs Salman Khurshid.

"It is mainly a goodwill visit. Reciprocating Minister Khurshid's Nepal visit in July last year, I am going there to deepen bilateral relations," Ghimire told reporters in Kathmandu.

Besides holding official bilateral talks with his counterpart Khurshid Wednesday at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, Ghimire will also pay a courtesy call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and other senior Indian government officials Wednesday and Thursday, according to the Nepal's foreign ministry.

Ghimire, a former top bureaucrat by profession, had played an important role in holding the Nov 19 Constituent Assembly elections by bringing on board all major political forces in the poll process.

Deepak Dhital, spokesperson of Nepal's Foreign Ministry, told reporters here that given the dynamics and vibrancy of bilateral relations, there was no question about when and how the top leaders of the both countries should travel and meet each other.

Dhital was responding to a question as to why the foreign minister was visiting India at a time when the incumbent government has been relegated to a caretaker one and a new government would be installed in Kathmandu soon.

Dhital said both sides needed to increase the frequencies of high-level visits.

"No agreement or pact will be signed during my visit," Minister Ghimire said.

This will be his first official visit since the formation of the interim government in May last year. Senior home and foreign ministry officials will also accompany the minister.