No Indian hand in building or bringing down Nepali govt: envoy

Kathmandu : India did not have a hand in building or bringing down the Nepali government, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae said today. Rae said India wants to work with Nepal in development projects by improving bilateral ties between the two countries.

India did not have a hand in bringing down the government in Nepal, Rae was quoted as saying by the Himalayan Times. He also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit Nepal after Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s visit to India.

Pointing out the need for promotion of religious tourism in Nepal, Rae informed that “homework” is being done for direct air connection between major Indian and Nepali cities.

Nepal’s Prime Minister Prachanda was elected Prime Minister on August 4 for the second time after his brief stint with premiership came to an end in 2009. The Prime Minister’s post had been left vacant since last month after CPN-UML chairman K P Sharma Oli tendered his resignation.

Nepal had plunged into a political turmoil after Oli’s resignation. Ties between India and Nepal were at an all-time low since the promulgation of the Constitution in Nepal last year and over the Madhesi agitation.

Madhesis, mostly Indian-origin, had launched a six-month-long agitation from September to February in which more than 50 people were killed. The agitation had also crippled the landlocked country’s economy as supplies from India were blocked.

PTI