Misri hands over defence equipment to Nepal Army

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri wrapped up his two-day official visit to Nepal on Monday. He handed over a consignment of defence equipment to the Nepal Army and extended Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation to his counterpart KP Sharma Oli to visit India.

At the invitation of Nepal’s Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai, Misri visited Kathmandu from August 17 to 18 and held a series of high-level meetings.

He called on Nepalese President Ramchandra Paudel, PM Oli, and Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba, conveying greetings from the Indian leadership and briefing them on progress in bilateral cooperation.

The two foreign secretaries reviewed the status of ongoing initiatives and explored opportunities for further collaboration. They also deliberated on possible outcomes that could be taken up during Oli’s proposed visit to India.

As part of India’s continuing defence partnership with Nepal, Misri met Chief of Army Staff General Ashok Raj Sigdel and handed over light-strike vehicles, critical care medical equipment and military animals to the Nepal Army.

Both sides expressed satisfaction at the strides made in recent years across diverse areas of cooperation, including physical and digital connectivity, defence and security and energy partnership. Misri also held meetings with other senior political leaders of Nepal.

Officials said the visit reflected India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and underscored the tradition of regular high-level exchanges that aim to strengthen New Delhi’s deep-rooted ties with Kathmandu.