President Pranab Mukherjee 3-day state visit to Nepal

President Pranab Mukherjee is on a three-day state visit to Nepal from November 2 to 4, 2016. The is visit is first by an Indian Head of State in 18 years. The President’s visit is seen as an extension of “intensive engagement” by India with Nepal, which adopted its democratic Constitution last year.

• This visit is described as a “mission of friendship” by president

About Nepal :

Nepal officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal  is a landlocked country in South Asia with a population of 26.4 million.

• It is a multi ethnic nation with Nepali as the official language. Kathmandu is the nation’s capital and largest city. Modern Nepal is a secular parliamentary republic.
• Nepal is bordered by China to the north and India to the south, east, and west. It is separated from Bangladesh by a narrow Indian corridor and from Bhutan by the Indian state of Sikkim.
• Nepal is located in the Himalayas and is home to eight of the world’s ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Its southern Madhesh region is fertile and humid. The country has an area of 147,181 square kilometres (56,827 sq mi), making it the world’s 93rd largest country by area. It is also the 41st most populous
• Nepal has a diverse ancient cultural heritage. The name Nepal is first recorded in texts from the Vedic Age, the era that founded Hinduism, the country’s predominant religion. Nepal was the world’s last Hindu monarchy.
• Siddharta Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, was born in Lumbini in southern Nepal. The main minorities are Tibetan Buddhists, Muslims, Kiratans, and Christians. The Nepalese are also known as Gurkhas. They have been reputed for their valour in World War I and World War II.
• Established in the 18th century, the early modern Kingdom of Nepal was led by the Shah dynasty, after Prithvi Narayan Shah unified many principalities in the region.
• Nepal is one of the few Asian countries which was never colonized.Following the Anglo-Nepalese War and the Treaty of Sugauli in 1816, Nepal became an ally of the British Empire.
• Amultiparty democracy evolved from 1951 to 1960, when King Mahendra enacted the panchayat . In 1990, parliamentary government was restored by King Birendra. Nepal faced a decade-long Communist Maoist insurgency and mass protests against the authoritarian King Gyanendra in 2005, which led to the abolition of the monarchy in 2008.
• Its 2nd constituent assembly promulgated a new constitution in 2015. Today, the main political blocs in Nepal are communists, social democrats and Hindu nationalists.
• The Nepali government works in the framework of are presentative democracy with seven federal provinces. Nepal is a developing nation, ranking 145th on the Human Development Index (HDI) in 2014.
• The country struggles with the transition from a monarchy to a republic. It also suffers from high levels of hunger and Despite these challenges, Nepal is making steady progress, with the government declaring its commitment to elevate the nation from least developed country status in 2022.

Highlights of President’s Visit :

During his visit, Mukherjee had held a meeting with President Bhandari, Vice-President Nanda Bahadur Pun, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and leaders of other major political parties

• The Kathmandu University conferred an Honorary Doctorate on the President of India.The President congratulated Kathmandu University on its Silver Jubilee and said within a short span of twenty-five years, the University has established itself as a focal point of higher learning in Nepal, offering academic courses in humanities, science, engineering, medicine, management and law.
• He also announced that from 2017 onwards, Nepali students will have the opportunity to pursue graduate and post-graduate courses in Indian Institutes of Technology on a regular basis.
• He had offered special worships to the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu and the Janaki Temple in Janakpurdham.
• The President’s visit is seen as an extension of “intensive engagement” by India with Nepal, which adopted its democratic Constitution last year, at political and functional levels. 
• A formal meeting between the two Heads of State has been lined up at the official residence of Bhandari-Shital Niwas.