India committed to Nepal's post-quake reconstruction: PM Modi

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday said that India was fully committed to the reconstruction work in Nepal after the devastating April 2015 earthquake.

He was speaking to Nepalese Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bimalendra Nidhi, who is visiting India as a Special Envoy after the installation of a new government in the Himalayan nation and who called on him here.

This is the first high-level visit from Nepal to India after the new Maoist-led government headed by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal " Prachanda" took charge in Kathmandu earlier this month.

"The Prime Minister said that India is fully committed to support the government and the people of Nepal in the post-earthquake reconstruction efforts," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement.

India is the largest donor to Nepal's post-earthquake reconstruction efforts.

"Stating that the relations between India and Nepal were not merely between the two governments, but between the people of both countries, the Prime Minister reiterated that India is committed to strengthening these traditional bonds of friendship and kinship with the people of Nepal," the PMO statement said.

Nidhi briefed the Prime Minister about developments in Nepal.

Modi congratulated Nidhi on assuming office as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs of Nepal.

He also conveyed his best wishes to the new government of Nepal under Prachanda.

Nidhi, who is on a four-day visit to India, on Friday called on External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

Sushma Swaraj assured Nidhi that India would work closely with the new Nepali government.

Nidhi called on President Pranab Mukherjee and reiterated President Bidya Devi Bhandari's invitation to visit the Himalayan nation.

After coming to power, the new Maoist-led government said Nepal wanted to further strengthen bilateral relations with both India and China.

While Nidhi from the Nepali Congress was deputed to visit India as special envoy, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Krishna Bahadur Mahara of Prachanda's Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist-Centre) visited Beijing earlier this week.