Nepal President accorded ceremonial welcome (Lead)

New Delhi April 18 (IANS) Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari was accorded a ceremonial welcome on Tuesday at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi received Bhandari. She was then accorded a ceremonial guard of honour at forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Special honours for a close neighbour External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted while announcing her ceremonial welcome.

Later in the morning she paid her tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat.

Modi External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will call on the visiting dignitary on Tuesday.

Bhandari will call on President Mukherjee and attend a banquet hosted by him.

The Nepal President arrived here on Monday on a five-day visit to India at the invitation of her Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee.

This is Bhandari s first foreign tour after assuming office in October 2015.

She is accompanied by a 33-member delegation that includes Foreign Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat and Peace and Reconstruction Minister Sita Devi Yadav five women MPs and senior officials.

--IANS
rs/sm/vm