Kathmandu, 17 September (H.S.): Nepal Finance Minister Dr Swarnim Wagle arrived in New Delhi on Thursday morning for a three-day visit to India. At the invitation of the Government of India, Wagle travelled from Kathmandu on a 7:35 a.m. flight and arrived in Delhi.

The primary objective of Wagle’s visit is to discuss various aspects of economic, political and diplomatic cooperation between the two countries, including post-disaster reconstruction. According to his secretariat, discussions during the visit will cover a range of issues concerning bilateral cooperation.

Wagle is scheduled to meet Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at 5 p.m. on Thursday. On Friday morning, he will attend a high-level diplomatic dialogue hosted by former Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran as the chief guest. He is also scheduled to meet Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar at 5 p.m. on Friday.

At 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Wagle will attend a comprehensive meeting hosted by Javed Ashraf, chairman of the Trade Promotion Organisation of India. On Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m., he will participate as the keynote speaker in a conference of leading industrial houses organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

At 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Wagle will attend an academic discussion on development economics organised by the Delhi School of Economics as the chief guest. He is scheduled to return to Nepal at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Wagle’s delegation includes Finance Ministry Joint Secretary Amrit Lamsal, Foreign Ministry Joint Secretary Gehendra Rajbhandari, Dr Surendra Thapa, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi, Economics Minister Taranath Adhikari, Finance Minister’s Private Secretary Kanchan Basnet and other officials.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar