New Delhi, June 2 (IANS) Nepal’s ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane arrived at the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters in New Delhi on Tuesday and was warmly welcomed by BJP chief Nitin Nabin.

Lamichhane’s visit is focused on fostering party-to-party relations between the RSP and the BJP, while also facilitating discussions on organisational functioning, democratic practices, governance models and public outreach strategies.

On reaching the BJP headquarters, the Nepalese delegation led by Lamichhane was accorded a warm reception. A large number of members of the Nepalese community gathered at the venue and welcomed the visiting leaders with enthusiasm.

The visit is expected to serve as a platform for exchanging views on political organisation, democratic participation and people-centric governance.

It is also seen as an opportunity for both parties to explore avenues of cooperation and better understand each other’s political and organisational frameworks.

Welcoming the delegation, the BJP expressed optimism that the interaction would contribute to productive dialogue and stronger engagement between the two political parties.

Lamichhane’s visit assumes significance as it comes at a time when uncertainty continues to surround the proposed visit of Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah to India.

During his stay in New Delhi, Lamichhane is also expected to hold discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and several other senior leaders, according to sources.

Several RSP leaders said that a visit by the chief of the ruling party to the neighbouring country should be viewed as a natural development.

In recent years, the BJP has been prioritising party-to-party relations besides state-to-state bilateral relations. In the past years, leaders of Nepal’s political parties also visited New Delhi at the invitation of the BJP.

The current visit is also in line with the BJP’s broader international outreach efforts.

Earlier, on May 26, BJP President Nitin Nabin interacted with Heads of Missions from 12 countries under the ‘Know BJP’ initiative, which seeks to strengthen engagement with members of the diplomatic community.

The programme forms part of the BJP’s ongoing efforts to familiarise foreign representatives with the party’s historical evolution, ideological foundations, governance approach and organisational structure.

According to party leaders, the initiative is one element of a wider series of engagements aimed at building greater understanding of the BJP among diplomats, political leaders and international stakeholders.

–IANS

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