Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar arrives in Kathmandu

KATHMANDU, Aug 21: Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. Subramanyam Jaishankar has arrived in Kathmandu to attend the fifth meeting of the Nepal-India Joint Commission which begins later on Wednesday afternoon.

He was received by Foreign Secretary of Nepal, Shanker Das Bairagi and Ambassador of India to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri and Ambassador of Nepal to India Nilambar Acharya at the Tribhuvan International Airport.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali and his counterpart Dr. Jaishankar will co-chair the joint commission meeting which will review the entire gamut of the bilateral relations especially various areas of cooperation such as connectivity and economic partnership, trade and transit, power and water resources sectors, culture, education and other matters of mutual interest, according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Dr. Jaishankhar will pay a courtesy call on Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli before the commission meeting which will take place at Hotel Yak and Yeti. He is also scheduled to visit President Bidya Devi Bhandari.

This is the first high-level visit from India since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took charge of the office for the second term in May.

In the evening, Minister Gyawali will host a dinner in honor of the Indian External Affairs Minister.

Dr. Jashankhar will depart for New Delhi on Thursday after the meeting concludes.

The Nepal-India Joint Commission was established in June 1987. Its meetings are held alternately in Nepal and India. The last meeting of the Joint Commission was held in New Delhi on October 2016.