NEW DELHI: Nepal’s newly-elected Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, popularly known as Prachanda, during an interaction with a group of editors in Nepal, indicated that he would make Delhi his first port of call in his official capacity as the prime minister.
“During his interaction with editors on January 14, he indicated that he would go to India first. He also said that after he took over as PM of Nepal, it was the Indian media that he first responded to,’’ said a source. Though dates haven’t been finalised yet, sources say, it could be in February or March.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that India’s foreign secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra is likely to visit Kathmandu during the last week of this month. Kwatra was India’s ambassador to Nepal before he took over as Foreign Secretary in May 2022. Sources say that he is likely to meet Prachanda and also extend a formal invitation to him for visiting Delhi at an early date, which is convenient for both the countries.
Interestingly, most Nepalese PMs have traditionally travelled to India first. One of the exceptions was when Prachanda in 2008 visited Beijing first for the Olympics inaugural ceremony. He tried to do damage control by saying that his first official visit will be to India. In his second tenure as PM in 2016, he first came to India.
The 68-year-old CPN-Maoist Centre leader was sworn in as PM for the third time on December 26, 2022. Prachanda had last visited India in July, 2022 at the invitation of the BJP president, JP Nadda, under the “know the BJP initiative”.
Nepalese PMs traditionally visit India
Interestingly, most Nepalese PMs have traditionally travelled to India first. One of the exceptions was when Prachanda in 2008 visited Beijing first for the Olympics inaugural ceremony