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RSP president Rabi Lamichhane has begun a three-day religious visit to India with his wife. He says the pilgrimage is personal and includes no political meetings.
Kathmandu,Oct 23, 2026 17:56 IST
Rastriya Swatantra Party president Rabi Lamichhane has left Nepal for a three-day religious visit to India with his wife, Nikita Poudel, news agency Press Trust of India reported, citing party sources.
Lamichhane said the trip was personal and no political meetings were planned. He will visit religious sites in Uttarakhand and Assam.
Lamichhane travelled by road through the Gaddachauki checkpoint in Nepal's Kanchanpur district. He is scheduled to visit Kainchi Dham, a shrine dedicated to Neem Karoli Baba in Nainital, Uttarakhand.
Speaking briefly to reporters at Dhangadhi Airport in Nepal, Lamichhane said he had been planning to visit the shrines for some time. "This is solely a religious visit, and no political meetings are planned," he said, adding that he was undertaking the pilgrimage to fulfil a vow he had made earlier.
He will also offer prayers at the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati, Assam, PTI reported, citing sources in the RSP Secretariat.
The visit comes amid preparations for Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah's proposed official visit to India. The dates and agenda are yet to be finalised, according to sources in Nepal's Foreign Ministry.
Shah, who took office on March 27, has received an invitation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit India. The proposed trip would be his first official bilateral visit abroad, although he travelled to the United States in September to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
Lamichhane, a former journalist and television broadcaster, is the founding chairman of the RSP. The party emerged as a major political force in Nepal after a youth-led protest movement resulted in a change of government. Lamichhane is the party's chairman, while Shah is the prime minister and the RSP's parliamentary party leader.
In June, Lamichhane led an RSP delegation to India following an invitation from Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Nabin. During that visit, he met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and discussed the India-Nepal development partnership and ties between the people of the two countries.
Lamichhane's latest three-day trip is focused on visits to Kainchi Dham and the Kamakhya Temple, with the RSP president maintaining that it is solely a religious visit and does not include political meetings.
With PTI Inputs
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