The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has started preparations for the India visits of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and Deputy PM and Minister for Foreign Affairs Krishna Bahadur Mahara.

The ministry has communicated to New Delhi that DPM Mahara is planning to visit India to discuss bilateral issues and to prepare the ground for the PM’s visit.

According to senior officials at the ministry, Mahara’s visit is proposed to take place in the first week of July. Both the sides are working to schedule a probable three-day trip around July 4.

The foreign minister will meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his counterpart Sushma Swaraj and other leaders in Delhi. Mahara would also discuss the status of India-funded projects in Nepal and look at new areas of cooperation between the two countries.

Besides official engagements, Mahara will meet non-resident ambassadors based in New Delhi to seek support for Nepal’s candidature for the UN Human Rights Council. Nepal has already announced its candidacy for membership of the Council for the term 2018-20.

In his meeting with Prime Minister Deuba last week, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri proposed mid-July as the time of the PM’s visit to the southern neighbour. The Nepali side, however, is yet to confirm it.