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Prime Minister Prachanda Visits India
By KTM Metro Reporter in Kathmandu
Indian Prime Minister Dr. Man Mohan Singh had invited Nepalese Prime Minister Prachanda immediately after the Constituent Assembly-legislature elected him a Prime Minister by overwhelmingly votes on August 18, 2008. However, Prime Minister Prachanda made a first visit to China on August 23 to attend the concluding ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Game of 2008 provoking strong reactions from the Indian and Nepalese press.
On Sunday evening, September 14, 2008, Prime Minister Prachanda flew to India after making replies to the queries at the Constituent Assembly, and the Policies and Programs of his government passed by the Constituent Assembly.
On September 15, 2008, early in the morning, Prime Minister Prachanda went to Rajghat and placed a wreath on the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi, and received External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee at Taj Hotel. He made a courtesy call on President Pratibha Patil at the Rastrapati Bhawan and met with the Opposition Leader L.K. Advani at Taj Hotel. Prime Minister addressed the Indian business community at the luncheon hosted by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Association of Chambers of Commerce (ASSOCHAM) at Taj Hotel and invited the Indian businesspersons to invest in the mega hydropower projects and other large projects in Nepal, and promised them to create a business friendly environment. He made a courtesy call on the leader of the ruling party Indian Congress Sonia Gandhi at her residence.
On Tuesday, September 16, 2008, the third day of his visit to India, Nepalese Prime Minister Prachanda met with Indian Prime Minister Dr. Man Mohan Singh at Hyderabad Bhawan, and had one-and-a-half hours long one-on-one meeting with him. After the meeting Prime Minister said that the Indian Prime Minister was positive to review the Nepal-India Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1950.
In the evening, Prime Minister Prachanda attended the banquet hosted by Indian Prime Minister in his honor. Speaking at the Banquet Prime Minister Prachanda said, "We are determined to do whatever we can to further enrich and strengthen the ties of cooperative relationship between our two countries so that we enhance them to a new height of mutual trust, goodwill, understanding and confidence on both sides. We are looking forward to a comprehensive engagement that ensures a win-win situation for us in all our mutual endeavors." [TRN].
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Prachanda met with Indian communist leaders such as Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury, and Minister for Railways Lalu Prasad Yadav and former Prime Ministers Indar Kumar Gujral and HD Deve Gowda.
On Wednesday, September 17, 2008, Nepalese Prime Minister and Indian Prime Minister released a 22-point joint statement in New Delhi.
On Wednesday, September 17, 2008, Prime Minister Prachanda is flying to South Indian city Bangalore to see the IT industry there. He will come back to Kathmandu on Thursday, September 18.
