Nepalese PM Deuba to meet Modi today; to jointly inaugurate railway service between India-Nepal

New Delhi, Apr 1: Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who is on a three-day visit to India, will hold wide-ranging talks with Indian PM Narendra Modi on Saturday.

That is expected to inject fresh momentum into bilateral ties.

Deuba will meet Modi in Hyderabad House, New Delhi at 11:10 AM. They will jointly inaugurate India-Nepal rail service through videoconferencing.

The Jaynagar-Kurtha section is part of the 68.7km Jaynagar-Bijalpura-Bardidas rail link built under the Government of India's grant assistance of NPR 8.77 billion.

The new infrastructure was built for broad gauge railway operation by replacing the narrow gauge, which was stopped more than seven years ago. Nepal Railway Company has made all necessary preparations for the inaugural ceremony, according to officials.

It is Deuba's first bilateral visit abroad after becoming prime minister in July last year for a fifth time following a spell of political turmoil in Kathmandu.

Deuba had visited India in each of his four earlier stints as prime minister of Nepal. His last visit to India in his capacity as the prime minister was in 2017.

Nepal is important for India in the context of its overall strategic interests in the region, and the leaders of the two countries have often noted the age-old "Roti Beti" relationship.

The country shares a border of over 1,850 km with five Indian states -- Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Land-locked Nepal relies heavily on India for the transportation of goods and services.

Nepal's access to the sea is through India, and it imports a predominant proportion of its requirements from and through India.

The India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1950 forms the bedrock of the special relations between the two countries.

"The upcoming visit will provide an opportunity to the two sides to review this wide-ranging cooperative partnership and to progress it further for the benefit of the two peoples," the MEA said on Monday.

Besides official engagements in New Delhi, the prime minister of Nepal will visit Varanasi.