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PM Modi, Nepal PM inaugurate Nepal-Bharat Maitri Pashupati Dharmashala

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart KP Sharma Oli jointly inaugurated the 400-bed Nepal-Bharat Maitri Pashupati Dharmashala in Kathmandu on Friday.

PM Modi, Nepal PM inaugurate Nepal-Bharat Maitri Pashupati Dharmashala

(Photo: Twitter/@MEAIndia)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart KP Sharma Oli jointly inaugurated the 400-bed Nepal-Bharat Maitri Pashupati Dharmashala in Kathmandu on Friday.

Addressing a gathering at the event, PM Modi highlighted the strong cultural and civilisational ties existing between both the countries.

He said that the Dharmshala would be more than just a rest house for the pilgrims and further enhance the ties between India and Nepal.

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“India believes in the mantra of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’,” said the PM who was on his fourth visit to the Himalayan country since coming to power in 2014.

He also expressed happiness at the Nepal government’s decision to translate former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s poems in Nepali language. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader passed away on 16 August.

Before the inauguration of the Dharmshala, Modi and Oli discussed outstanding bilateral issues between the two nations on the sidelines of the 4th Bimstec Summit that concluded on Friday.

Read More: 4th BIMSTEC Summit concludes with 18-point Kathmandu Declaration

It was their third meeting in six months and follows immediately after a ‘resetting’ of ties between India and Nepal in May this year.

India and Nepal inked an MoU on a railway project survey in the Himalayan nation. The Memorandum of Understanding on a survey for a broad gauge railway line between Raxaul in Bihar and Nepal capital Kathmandu was signed by Nepalese Ministry of Physical Planning and Works Secretary Madhusudan Adhikari and Indian Ambassador to Nepal Manjiv Singh Puri in the presence of the two Prime Ministers.

A preliminary engineering-cum-traffic survey will be conducted by railway officials from both sides within a year with Indian assistance. A detailed project report will be prepared later before the construction is taken up.

Nepal and India had agreed to expand rail line from Raxaul to Kathmandu during the India visit of Oli in April.

Modi also held talks with Bhutan official Lyonpo Tshering Wangchuk on the summit sidelines on Friday and his Thailand counterpart Prayut Chan-o-cha.

The Indian PM first visited Nepal in August 2014 for a state visit followed by a trip in November of the same year for the SAARC Summit.

Ties between the two nations hit a historic low during the 2015 Madhesi crisis.

A warming of ties began when Oli visited Indian soon after coming to power on 15 February this year. The Indian PM followed it up with his May visit when the two leaders laid the foundation stone of the Arun-III hydroelectricity project from Kathmandu and agreed on a series of matters for the furtherance of the relation between India and Nepal.

Read More: PM Modi, Oli ‘reset’ India-Nepal ties

“In a historic development, Prime Minister Oli and I had the honour of laying the foundation stone of the Arun-III project. This project manifests the strong bond between India and Nepal. It is a project which will have a transformative impact on Nepal’s growth trajectory,” the PM had said adding that all misunderstandings with Nepal are over.

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