India has welcomed the conduction of Federal Parliament and Provincial Assembly elections held for the first time after the adoption of new constitution in Nepal.

In a weekly media briefing by India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday, MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said: “India welcomes the conduction of parliamentary elections and first ever provincial elections in Nepal. We congratulate the government and the people of Nepal.”

The elections were held across Nepal in two phases—on November 26 and December 7, the vote counting of which has almost concluded with Nepal set to elect a government of left alliance constituting CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre).

MEA Spokesman Kumar further recalled the historic friendship between Nepal and India and said that India was always ready to advance Nepal-India ties in all sectors including economic prosperity of the country.

“India has age old unique, time-tasted ties of friendship with the country [Nepal]. We look forward to working with the next democratically elected government in Nepal to advance our close and multifaceted partnership across all sectors and to support Nepal in its pursue to peace, stability, economic prosperity and all round development,” said Kumar.

In September 2015, when Nepal promulgated a new constitution approved with around 90 percent majority of the Constituent Assembly, India had released a statement saying it merely ‘noted’ the constitution promulgation in Nepal.

Though some political observers believe that the soon-to -be-formed government of left alliance would increase ties with Nepal’s northern neighbor China, it remains to be seen how the next government will build its relations with its two close neighbours.