Nepal to invite Modi for donor conference to raise funds

 Nepal is set to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an international donor conference here later this month to raise funds for reconstruction as the country grapples with the after-effects of the devastating quakes.

Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat left Kathmandu for India today on a three-day official visit during which he will meet Prime Minister Modi and deliver Nepal Premier Sushil Koirala's invitation to attend International Donar's Conference to be held on June 25.

Mahat, who is visiting India, at the invitation of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, will also hold bilateral discussions regarding utilisation and implementation of the financial support announced by Modi during his visit to Nepal last year.

During Mahat's visit, discussions would be held on various issues, including opening of bank accounts of Nepalese residing in India, restriction on Indian currency denomination of 500 and 1,000, Indian investment in Nepal and bilateral trade extension, Ekantipur news portal reported.

Mahat is scheduled to meet Modi tomorrow and hand over the invitation letter for the donor conference.

Various other Indian ministers will also be invited for the conference. Finance Minister Mahat is also the coordinator of the donor conference.

Mahat is accompanied by Maha Prasad Adhikari, Deputy Governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank, and Yugraj Pandey, Under-Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, on his India visit.

Two quakes and several after shocks left a trail of death and destruction in Nepal with nearly 9,000 people killed and scores injured in the country's worst natural disaster.