Indonesia has offered to supply coal to Bihar for thermal power plants. The offer was made by the Indonesian Ambassador to India, Lt Gen (Retd) Andi M Ghalib, during his meeting with Chief Minister Mr Nitish Kumar here on Tuesday.

Emerging from the meeting, Mr Kumar said the Indonesian envoy made the offer “and we will explore the possibilities and take up the matter with the Centre as to whether the coal from that country could be made available to us for thermal plants here.”

Mr Kumar said both India and Indonesia shared strong cultural relations since ancient times and promotion of tourism between the two countries could further strengthen the bilateral relations.

He recalled that the Indonesian President had visited New Delhi and participated in the Republic Day function on the sidelines of which several agreements were signed between the two countries on commerce, trade and tourism.

The Indonesian Ambassador said there had been marked improvement in the fields of agriculture, education, health and other social sectors in Bihar, besides development of infrastructure.

“We will be happy to supply coal to Bihar for thermal power plants,” he said.

Earlier, the Ambassador emphasised on the need to encourage cultural tourism between the two countries and said that his country had been issuing to the Indians visas on arrival since 2002.

Referring to the construction of the Nalanda University through multilateral cooperation, he said his country, too, was making monetary contributions towards reviving the great and ancient educational institution.

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