Nepal to send special envoys to India, China

Kathmandu, Aug. 12 (ANI): Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal will be sending Deputy Prime Ministers Bimalendra Nidhi and Krishna Bahadur Mahara as special envoys to India and China. The Cabinet meeting on Thursday decided to send the envoys to its south Asian neigbours. Mahara after Thursday's Cabinet meeting said that the government decided to send special representatives to India and China "to maintain cordial relations with the neighbours". The decision is said to be an initiative by Dahal's government that Nepal wants balanced, friendly and cordial relations with its neighbours. "For sending a special representative, there has to be a special reason-something like mending ties or clearing misunderstandings or boosting confidence," a foreign ministry official said. He added that such move is not a regular case in diplomacy. Relations between India and Nepal had soured after the promulgation of Constitution last year, resulting in months-long Tarai protest and border blockade. Former prime minister K.P. Sharma Oli-government's initiatives to reach out to China then was perceived as Kathmandu's bid to tilt towards Beijing. He had visited Beijing in March to signsome agreements with an aim to lessen Nepal's dependency on New Delhi. Misunderstandings between Nepal and India were said to be cleared after Oli's visit to New Delhi in February. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Nidhi said that one of his tasks as the government's special representative in New Delhi will be securing the visit of Indian President Pranab Mukherjee to Nepal. Nepal government is planning to invite Mukherjee on the occasion of the Constitution Day on September 20. Similarly, DPM Mahara will also make a bid to secure Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Kathmandu in October. (ANI)