NEW DELHI: Nepal finance minister Swarnim Wagle will be in New Delhi for a two-day visit from Thursday for talks on post-flood reconstruction and wider economic cooperation as Kathmandu looks to India for support after the Aug 26 disaster devastated hydropower projects, roads, bridges and settlements. The visit will be the first high-level trip from Nepal to India since the floods.Wagle is expected to meet finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, external affairs minister S Jaishankar and commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal. He will also address an industry gathering and deliver a lecture at Delhi School of Economics. The disaster’s confirmed toll has reached 1,429 dead and more than 5,649 missing across Nepal and Tibet. Wagle has estimated that Nepal may need as much as $5 billion for rebuilding. “We will require much less than what we needed for the 2015 earthquake,” he said.India has sent nearly 50 tonnes of relief material to Nepal following the flood, including medicines, temporary shelters and solar lamps.
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