Kathmandu, Jul 19 (PTI) In a congratulatory message to Nepal's new Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Friday, his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Friday promised that his government will be a "steadfast partner" of the Himalayan nation in its pursuit of economic prosperity.

“With your excellency's leadership and valuable experience, the wide-ranging cooperation between our two countries will move forward in a positive direction for the benefit of our two peoples,” Prime Minister Modi said and added that Nepal remained a special and priority partner under India's neighbourhood first policy.

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Oli took oath as Nepal's 45th Prime Minister, the fourth time for him, on July 15 to lead a new coalition government that faces the daunting challenge of providing political stability in the country.

According to PM Oli's Secretariat, Modi said that his government “continues to be committed to being a steadfast partner of Nepal in the pursuit of its economic prosperity and development priorities by strengthening our mutually beneficial partnership and also exploring newer avenues for collaboration.”

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“Due to the centuries-old common culture, civilisation and open borders between the two countries, strong relations have been established between the citizens of the two countries,” he pointed out.

Underlining that there has been significant progress between the two countries in the fields of connectivity and energy recently, he urged Prime Minister Oli “to share and cooperate in the overall development of the two countries.”

“India- Nepal relations are characterized by age-old civilisational and cultural connections as well as strong people-to-people ties across our open borders,” he noted. These bonds provide energy, vigour, and strength to our partnership, he added.

In recent years our bilateral cooperation has witnessed progress including in the areas of connectivity, energy, developmental partnership and people-to-people exchanges,” he noted. “We have always valued your excellency's contribution to this journey,” he added.

“I look forward to working closely with you in ensuring that our bilateral partnership soars even higher and that we help realise the aspirations of the people of both our countries.”

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)