Nepal’s PM-in-waiting KP Oli skipped the Indian Republic Day function hosted by the Indian Embassy in the Kathmandu on Friday.
CPN-UML Chairman Oli was scheduled to participate in an event in Pokhara. However, before leaving for Pokhara, he extended his wishes to Indian Ambassador Manjeev Singh Puri over the phone for Indian Republic Day function.
Oli had reportedly taken a rain check when the Indian Embassy invited him to last year’s Republic Day function owing to his ‘conflicting schedule’. He had visited Mustang to inaugurate an energy project then.
The same year Oli had also skipped India’s Independence Day function, where India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was the chief guest.
Oli has not attended any official function organised by the Indian Embassy since the 2015 Indian border blockade. From then the bilateral relations between the two countries turned sour.
Earlier on Thursday, the Indian envoy had said that India was very much looking forward to cooperate with the new government in Nepal.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already congratulated Oli in advance as future prime minister of Nepal.
