External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday said that New Delhi looks forward to better discussions with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries during the 18th annual summit in Kathmandu.
“This is my second trip to Nepal in four months….. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to the country has also been very successful. This time in the SAARC Summit, there will be both bilateral talks with other countries as well as discussions about SAARC as a whole,” Swaraj told the media here.
“We have come here with a hope that SAARC which is a very big mechanism of our region will proceed forward and we will be able to have better discussions,” she added.
The External Affairs Minister further said that is a second chance for her and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to collectively meet the members of SAARC countries and talk to them.
“During the Prime Minister’s swearing-in ceremony, we had invited all the SAARC countries, and the very next day we had a word with all the eight countries, so it’s our second chance,” Swaraj said.
Reacting to the cancellation of Prime Minister Modi’s trip to Janakpur, Lumbini, Muktinath, she said it is not correct to say that the trip has been canceled.
“Earlier also, when he had come to Nepal he had said that in his next trip he will visit the three places. But he will not be able to visit those places because of the date problems as the Parliament session has begun,” she added while asserting that Prime Minister Modi would definitely visit these places in the near future.
Earlier on Sunday, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin had informed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit only Kathmandu during his three-day visit to attend the SAARC Summit in Nepal.
“During his last visit to Kathmandu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed a desire to visit other places in Nepal, including Janakpur, Lumbini and Muktinath, to highlight, in particular, the strong civilizational links and unparallelel people-to-people contacts between our two countries. There has been widespread interest in Prime Minister’s schedule in the upcoming visit to Nepal for the SAARC summit,” Akbaruddin said while responding to a question on Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Nepal.
“Due to Prime Minister’s unavoidable domestic commitments and pre-scheduled travels within the country, he will travel only to Kathmandu to attend the SAARC Summit,” he added.
Akbaruddin further said the Prime Minister deeply values the special relationship between New Delhi and Kathmandu and will always welcome every occasion to visit Nepal and interact with the leadership and the people of Nepal.
“He looks forward to an early opportunity to visit Janakpur, Lumbini, Muktinath and other places in Nepal,” he added.
Prime Minister Modi will leave for Kathmandu tomorrow to attend the 18th (SAARC) Summit. (ANI)