Foreign Minister Arzu Rana, who is in New Delhi on a five-day India visit, is meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and her Indian counterpart, S Jaishankar, on Monday.

Rana is scheduled to pay a courtesy call on Modi on Monday, said the Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi in a statement late on Sunday. She will also hold a bilateral meeting with Jaishankar.

Rana is expected to hand over Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s invitation to the Indian prime minister to visit Nepal, according to officials privy to the development.

Rana on Sunday embarked on her trip at Jaishankar’s invitation. This is her first foreign visit after being appointed the foreign minister a month ago.

During her stay in the Indian capital, she will also meet senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, among others.

Rana and Jaishankar are expected to dwell on issues earlier discussed at the seventh joint commission meeting that took place in Kathmandu earlier this year, according to the officials.

The joint commission meeting had reviewed all aspects of bilateral relations and areas of cooperation including connectivity, infrastructure development, economic partnership, trade, transit, investment, power, water resources, culture, tourism, sports, health and education.

Jaishankar had arrived in Kathmandu leading the Indian delegation to the highest bilateral mechanism between Nepal and India entrusted with reviewing the whole spectrum of bilateral ties.

Rana’s India visit comes a week after new Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri concluded a two-day familiarisation visit of Nepal.

Rana’s visit is expected to focus on discussing matters of mutual interest rather than signing understandings or agreements, a joint-secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the Post.

In her meeting with Misri in Kathmandu, Rana called for additional air routes to Nepal to increase connectivity with India; setting up a sophisticated laboratory at the Nepal-India border to test the quality of vegetables and fruits imported from India for pesticides; and expediting the negotiations for the finalisation of the detailed project report of the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project that has been in limbo for decades, among other things.

They also discussed issues such as discharging water from the Tanakpur canal to the Nepal side, river training of the Banganga, Khado, and Rapti with India’s assistance, and the inauguration of the suspension bridge in Darchula on Nepal-India border, according to the foreign ministry.