Kathmandu, Feb 26 (PTI) Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” will visit Qatar later this week on his first official foreign trip since assuming office two months ago.
Prachanda will be leading a Nepalese delegation to Doha where he will attend the fifth conference of the Least Developed Countries (LDC), according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Prime Minister previously said he will travel to India on his first foreign visit.
The Nepalese delegation will leave for Qatar on March 3 and return back on March 6.
While in Doha, Prachanda will participate in a plethora of programmes organised by the UN on the sidelines of the conference, the ministry said.
Prime Minister Prachanda will also be making the country statement in the general debate of the conference.
Prachanda will address a conference organised by Malawi, the chair of the LDCs, on March 4, it said.
According to Ministry’s spokesperson Sewa Lamsal the Prime Minister will also participate in some programmes of the United Nations on the sideline of the Conference.
On the occasion, Prachanda will attend bilateral meetings, she added.
There will be eight thematic round-table meetings during the LDCs’ Fifth Conference and the Nepali delegation will participate in three of these meetings, the Ministry of Foreign Ministry said.
His trip to Doha comes at a time when his hold on power is increasingly under threat.
On Saturday, eight parties, including Prachanda’s CPN-Maoist Centre, backed senior leader of principal opposition party Nepali Congress Ram Chandra Paudel as the next president.
The development may bring down the fragile two-month-old government of Prachanda and could plunge Nepal once again into political turmoil.
Prachanda, the 68-year-old was sworn in as the Prime Minister for the third time on December 26 last year after he dramatically walked out of the pre-poll alliance led by the Nepali Congress and joined hands with opposition leader Oli.
Though the official date of his visit to India is yet to be announced, boosting bilateral ties and talks on trade, energy, agriculture, culture and air service will prominently feature in these talks, according to the government-run Gorkhapatra newspaper. PTI SBP VM ZH ZH
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