PM Koirala to visit India today

KATHMANDU, Aug 3 - Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala is scheduled to fly to India to hold separate meetings with Indian National Congress party chairman Soniya Gandhi and leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lalkrishna Adwani on Sunday.Prime Minister Koirala and the 35-member Nepali delegation will be leaving for India ... ...after the 15th South Asian Association Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit ends today.According to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, 35 delegation team led by the Prime Minister will be returning back on Monday after the visit to India.Earlier today, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged Prime Minister Koirala to form a government based on a national consensus.The Indian Prime Minister stressed on forming the government with a national consensus by maintaining unity among the political parties, during a meeting which lasted for about 45 minutes at Colombo this morning.Emerging from the meeting, Prime Minister Koirala said that the Indian Prime Minster pledged that the Indian government will fully assist the country in peace process.The duo also discussed on the present political situation, unity among the political parties, peace process, drafting new constitution and economic development at the meeting.Quoting Indian Prime Minister Singh, Prime Minister Koirala said that India is positive on the present political developments of the country and said that there is no alternative than to forge a political consensus by maintaining unity among the political parties.Meanwhile, the 15th SAARC summit is scheduled to end today with Colombo announcement letter mentioning the issue concerning terrorism control, food crisis and poverty alleviation.The summit which kicked off yesterday had ratified the work list prepared by the meeting of SAARC's council of ministers.At the summit, Prime Minister Koirala had opined that the problem of poverty and unemployment can be eradicated if the SAARC countries focused on economic development.The octogenarian Prime Minister, who reached Colombo on Friday leading a 35-member delegation to attend the summit, also pointed the need to make a joint effort by the SAARC members for the development of the region.

Add to: del.icio.us | Digg