Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived in Janakpur today on a two-day state visit to Nepal at the cordial invitation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

Defense Minister Ishwar Pokhrel and Province 2 Chief Minister Lalbabu Raut received the Indian PM at the airport.

The Indian PM will pay homage at Janaki temple for around six minutes along with PM Oli.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has also reached Janaki temple to welcome his Indian counterpart. The two prime ministers would inaugurate the Ramayana Circuit and the direct bus service from Janakpur to India’s Ayodhya.

Oli is scheduled to fly back to Kathmandu after the Janaki temple programme, while Modi would attend a civic reception hosted by Janakpur Sub Metropolitan City at Baarhabigha ground in his honour. The event is expected to last for about an hour.

Modi will then fly to Kathmandu in the afternoon where he will be welcomed by Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, at around 1:30 pm today.

According to The Himalayan Times, the Indian PM is staying at the Hyatt Regency in Bouddha, Kathmandu. Following his lunch at Hyatt, Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali, Modi will pay a courtesy call to the Indian PM and hold bilateral talks. Modi will then be escorted to Tundikhel where he will receive guard of honour.

He will then call on President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Vice-president Nanda Bahadur Pun, in separate visits.

The two Prime Ministers will then hold bilateral talks at Dwarika’s Hotel, followed by a joint press conference and remote inauguration of Arun-III hydropower project.

Indian PM’s engagements for today would conclude following his dinner going to be hosted in his honour by his Nepali counterpart at Dwarika’s.

This is Modi’s third visit to Nepal since 2014, and follows the state visit of Oli to India last month. Modi had earlier travelled to Nepal for a bilateral visit in August 2014 and for the SAARC Summit in November 2014.