Tuesday, August 29 2006 17:32 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kathmandu: India's Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni is in Nepal to attend a regional tourism workshop, becoming the first Indian minister to visit Kathmandu since a new government took office in April.

Soni's arrival was low-key. She flew to Kathmandu Monday evening on a Nepal Airlines flight from New Delhi to attend the Bay of Bengal Initiative for MultiSectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Tourism Ministers Roundtable and Workshop that kicked off today (Aug 29, 2006).

Earlier, senior tourism officials from BIMSTEC members - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand - met Monday. The meet comes after the First BIMSTEC Tourism Ministers roundtable in Kolkata last year.

The members of the regional grouping are discussing simplification of travel visa within member countries, development of tourism infrastructure, including the use of the Asian highway network, and management of a Tourism Information Centre that will market and promote the region as a tourist destination.

With Buddhism and Buddhist shrines having a key presence in the member countries, barring Bangladesh, the promotion of religious tourism covering the Buddhist circuit would also be discussed.

Nepal and India share a unique position. By a bilateral agreement citizens from both countries do not need a visa to visit the other country, can seek employment in each other's soil and are pledged to treat each other's citizens on par.

However, the Nepal Government, about two years ago, hiked the exit fee for Indian passengers travelling by air, making the sum almost double that for a Nepali citizen.

Earlier billed as tourist tax, the new rate is also imposed on Indians resident in Nepal including diplomats.

Indians living in Nepal have been protesting against the unfair decision but without any result.

Soni remained virtually ignored by the Nepali media. The visits earlier this month by Bollywood star Urmila Matondkar, who came to inaugurate a casino, and Miss India Earth 2005 Niharika Singh had attracted far more media interest.