Nepal president to visit India in April

Nepal’s President Bidya Devi Bhandari will begin a state visit to India on April 17, a media report said yesterday.The Nepal president’s office confirmed her India visit, which will be her first foreign tour after assuming office in October 2015, the Kathmandu Post reported.The president will be meeting her Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, leaders from the ruling and opposition parties and top Indian officials on April 18 in New Delhi, said Madan Kumar Bhattarai, foreign relations adviser to Bhandari.The itinerary of the visit is yet to be finalised, he added. Some minor agreements as a gesture of friendly relations between Nepal and India will likely be sealed during her visit.The president was preparing to visit India in May last year but it was cancelled due to the lack of preparations on the government’s part.After completing her engagements in Delhi, she will be attending a function at the Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.