Nepal PM's visit to India a milestone, says Minister

Kathmandu, Aug.21 (ANI): Nepal's Communication and Information Minister and spokesman Shankar Pokharel on Friday described the five-day visit to India of Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal as a milestone in Indo-Nepal relations.

"The visit is a milestone in Nepal-India relations," Pokharel told reporters.

He said that during the visit, the leaderships of both India and Nepal had decided that Home Secretaries would meet periodically to tackle the issue of trans-border crime and other bilateral security concerns including the use of the Himalayan nation as transit to push fake currency into the country.

He revealed that Nepal would never tolerate any anti-Indian activities from its soil.

Pokharel also said that Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala's decision to back out of the trip at the last moment would have no negative impact on Nepal-India relations.

It was the Prime Minister's official visit, not the Foreign Minister's visit, he clarified.

Koirala, he said, had decided to cancel the visit on health grounds, and therefore, it shouldn't be taken as otherwise, he said.

Dismissing the Maoist claim of toppling the coalition government, Pokharel claimed that the present UML led government itself is the national government.

The present government is capable of resolving all the problems, he claimed. (ANI)