Need to do home work before visiting India, says Nepal PM Prachanda

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda' is making elaborate preparations ahead of his much-publicised trip to India next month, saying he needs to do home-work before embarking on the visit.

The official date of his visit to India is yet to be announced.

Prachanda could be travelling to New Delhi during the first or the second week of May, a Prime Minister's aide said.

This will be his first foreign trip since he became Nepal's Prime Minister in December last year.

Boosting bilateral ties and talks on trade, energy, agriculture, culture, and air service will prominently feature in his talks with Indian leaders.

I am preparing for my upcoming visit to India, which is taking place soon Prachanda said at an event here.

We need to do proper home-work before the visit, the 68-year-old Maoist leader said.

Foreign ministry officials have begun the groundwork for his visit.

Earlier this year, Prachanda announced that he would visit India on his first foreign trip after assuming the post.

In July last year, Prachanda visited India at the invitation of BJP National President J P Nadda.

In addition to the BJP president, he had at the time met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.

Prachanda was sworn in as the Prime Minister for the third time on December 26 last year after he dramatically walked out of the pre-poll alliance led by the Nepali Congress and joined hands with opposition leader K P Sharma Oli.