Kolkata, Sep 13 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday afternoon congratulated Sushila Karki for assuming charge as the interim Prime Minister of Nepal, stating that she was looking forward to nurturing the deep-rooted ties of friendship and cooperation as neighbours.

Karki, 73, was sworn in as Nepal’s interim Prime Minister late on Friday evening, thus becoming the first-ever woman Prime Minister of Nepal.

“I extend my best wishes to the Right Honourable Mrs. Sushila Karki on her assumption of office as the Prime Minister of the Interim Government of Nepal. West Bengal has borders with Nepal and close people-to-people relations. We look forward to nurturing the deep-rooted ties of friendship and cooperation as neighbours,” the Chief Minister said in a social media statement on Saturday afternoon.

This is the first time that Mamata Banerjee has made any official comments regarding Nepal since the situation became tense and violent over the Generation-Z movement there.

The Chief Minister had her own reasons for not making any comment on the internal matter of Nepal.

According to her, since the issue was of foreign affairs, it was the prerogative of the Indian government and, more specifically, the Indian External Affairs Ministry to comment on it.

Earlier in the week, whenever she was questioned on this matter by the media, she refrained from making any comment and said that her comments would only follow any comment on the matter by the External Affairs Ministry.

And with Prime Minister Narendra Modi having issued a statement congratulating the first woman Prime Minister of the Himalayan nation, the Chief Minister also followed by issuing a similar congratulatory message to Karki.

Earlier too, when neighbouring Bangladesh was on the boil over the students’ movement there, the Chief Minister refrained from making any media statement on the internal matters in the neighbouring country on the same ground that it was the Union government’s prerogative.

–IANS

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