India-Nepal bilateral talks: Sher Bahadur Deuba meets Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi

Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba met former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday and held wide-ranging discussions on bilateral issues and friendship between the two countries. [caption id=“attachment_3195410” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Manmohan Singh (L) and Sonia Gandhi. PTI[/caption] Sources said that while Deuba expressed satisfaction over the ties and friendship with India, there was also in-depth discussion on the regional situation. Senior Congress leaders Dr Karan Singh and Anand Sharma were also present during the meeting held at Rashtrapati Bhawan. Deuba is on a five-day official visit to India and has held bilateral discussions and delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House. Modi also hosted a dinner in honour of Deuba. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj also called on the visiting dignitary and welcomed him ahead of the talks. Deuba also caled on President Ram Nath Kovind while vice-president Venkaiah Naidu and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley . Apart from his official engagements in New Delhi, Deuba will also visit Hyderabad, Tirupati and Bodh Gaya. Deuba’s visit comes days after Chinese vice-premier Wang Yang was in Nepal during which the two sides inked several major agreements to boost energy and economic ties. The visit comes amid the Doka La standoff between the Indian and Chinese troops that has led to escalation in tension between New Delhi and Beijing. Deuba had earlier paid three visits to India as prime minister, in 1996, 2004 and 2005.