Nepal President Ram Baran Yadav arrived in Kolkata on Thursday on a 10-day official visit to India. He is accompanied by Minister for Federal Affairs and Constituent Assembly Minendra Rijal and senior officials.
Mr. Rijal is expected to brief New Delhi about the new initiative to end the political logjam that has led to Nepal being unable to elect a new Prime Minister after 16 rounds of voting. A fresh round of voting with altered rules is scheduled for February 3.
Mr. Yadav is in Kolkata to be the chief guest at the convocation of the medical college of which he is an alumnus. He will visit Tirupati on January 30 and then be in Delhi till February 3. He will meet President Pratibha Patil, who will host a banquet in his honour.
To meet Manmohan
Visiting the country shortly after Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao's trip to Kathmandu, Mr. Yadav will hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He will also meet Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and Defence Minister A.K. Antony. Leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, will call on him.
Mr. Yadav will then visit Chandigarh to participate in the convocation of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, where he completed his MD (General Medicine) in 1985.
“The visit will provide an opportunity to exchange views and hold discussions on issues of mutual interest and concern in keeping with the tradition of regular high-level exchange of visits between the two countries,” said an official release.
