Temple visits will be an important part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Nepal, which will begin in Janakpur on Friday, where he is expected to make an announcement on the Ramayana Tourism Circuit.

Soothing frayed political feathers will also be high on the Indian PM’s agenda in his scheduled meeting with the leaders of all political parties, including Madhes-based parties, Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum and Rastriya Janata Party, Nepal.

“The PM will meet leaders from all political parties on Saturday. These include the Madhes-based parties as well,” a government official said on Thursday. Modi and his Nepalese counterpart K P Sharma Oli will jointly lay the foundation stone for the 900-MW Arun 111 hydro power project, being constructed with Indian assistance of an estimated ₹6,000 crore in Eastern Nepal. The two PM’s are also expected to make some other announcements including ones on the revision of the Transit Treaty between the two countries, collaboration in agriculture and survey for expanding rail linkages by connecting Raxaul in India to Kathmandu.

More on board

After visiting the Janakpur temple on Friday morning, Modi will attend a civic reception hosted by the Mayor of Janakpur at the Barabigha ground. The PM will then leave for Kathmandu in the afternoon where he will meet the Foreign Minister of Nepal. Later, Modi will call on Vice-President Nanda Bahadur Pun and President Bidya Devi Bhandari in the afternoon, the official said.

The following day, Modi will visit the Muktinath temple and is expected to announce assistance for a project to restore the place of worship revered by both Hindus and Buddhists. The Indian PM’s meeting with all political parties is scheduled after the Pashupati Nath temple visit, which will be followed by a civic reception officially bringing the visit to a close. This will be the Modi’s third visit to Nepal, but the first after Oli’s government came to power. Modi is expected to focus on building trust as ties between India and Oli had been majorly strained after India’s confrontation with Nepal over the country’s constitution in 2015. India believed that the Constitution discriminated against 51 per cent of the population comprising the Tharus, Madhesis and the Janjatis.

Diplomatically it is important for India to try and regain its earlier closeness to Nepal as Beijing has strengthened its political and economic ties with the country while New Delhi was maintaining its distance.

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