Nepal Prime Minister extends Republic Day wishes to Indian counterpart PM Modi

Prime Minister of Nepal KP Sharma Oli on Sunday extended his wishes to his Indian counterpart Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occassion of the 71st Republic Day. He called India as Nepal's 'largest friend'. 

In a statement, the Nepal PM said, "I am pleased to know that the Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce & Industry (NICCI) is celebrating the 71st Republic Day of India on 26th January 2020. It is my pleasure, on this historic occasion, to congratulate and extend best wishes, on behalf of the Government of Nepal and on my own behalf, to Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of the Republic of India, and the Government and the friendly people of India across the globe for their good health, happiness and continued prosperity." 

'Largest friend'

According to the Nepal Prime Minister, the relationship between India and Nepal is "bonded by a glorious common religion, culture, and tradition and has remained exemplary since time immemorial." He added that India is Nepal's largest friend in terms of trade, transit, investment, infrastructure, technology, energy, education, healthcare and so on.

He added, "We believe that the high-level visits from both sides in the recent few years have further reinforced the age-old cordial relations between the two countries with the pursuit of bilateral cooperation even in the fields of agriculture, railway, and waterway connectivity, infrastructure, energy, and others."

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India gifts ambulances, buses to Nepal

India gifted 30 ambulances and six buses to various hospitals, non-profit charitable organizations and educational institutions of Nepal, on the occassion of the Republic Day. As per reports, the ambulance and buses were gifted in order to reaffirm India's commitment in partnering with Nepal towards socio-economic development.

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The Indian Embassy released a statement that read: "The Embassy also gifted 30 ambulances and 6 buses to various hospitals, non-profit charitable organizations and educational institutions of Nepal thereby reaffirming Government of India's commitment to partner with Nepal in its journey towards socio-economic development." Earlier, the Indian government had gifted over 700 ambulances and over 100 buses to Nepal, in order to expand healthcare access to the people of Nepal. 

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(WITH ANI INPUTS)