Indian Railways Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu landed in Kathmandu on Saturday afternoon to participate in Nepal Infrastructure Summit 2017 that is slated to be held from February 19-20.

Being organised by the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) in association with the government and Youth Community for Nepalese Contractors (YCNC), the summit will see participation from leading global business leaders.

Prabhu, who is the guest of honour and keynote speaker of the summit, was welcomed by CNI President Hari Bhakta Sharma, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Joint Secretary Bishnu Om Bade Shrestha, India’s Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae and private sector representatives. 

Welcoming the India minister, Sharma said his three-day visit will be a good opportunity for sharing ideas and experiences of Indian model of infrastructure development where involvement of the private sector has become one of the key drivers in accelerating steady rate of economic growth. Highlighting the role of infrastructure development for economic prosperity, Prabhu said the summit would be pivotal for accelerating economic growth of Nepal which is striving for graduating itself to the status of a developing nation. 

During his stay in Nepal, Prabhu will pay a courtesy call to President Biddhya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister of Nepal Puspa Kamal Dahal. He will also hold meetings with Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Ramesh Lekhak and other government officials and private sector representatives. 

In a statement, CNI said the Indian minister’s visit will be helpful in strengthening Nepal-India ties for socio-economic development of both the countries.