New Delhi, April 24 : In the first visit to India of a senior Maoist leader from Nepal after the elections, Hisila Yami, a politburo member and wife of senior leader Babruram Bhattarai, will be in Patna Saturday to discuss bilateral ties.

Yami is a graduate of the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, and was the president of the All Nepal Women's Association (Revolutionary). She is one of the most high-profile women leaders among the Maoists and was known as Parvatí during long spells that she spent underground when the party was outlawed by the Nepalese government.

Yami, a minister for physical planning and works in the outgoing Nepalese government, is leading a 45-member delegation from Nepal for a two-day seminar on “Emerging Trends in India-Nepal Relations” beginning Saturday in Patna.

The seminar is being organized by the external affairs ministry's public diplomacy division with the government of Bihar.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and central Minister of State for Commerce and Power Jairam Ramesh are among the speakers at the seminar that will have a large number of participants from both countries.

A number of senior officials, academics, members of leading think tanks and industrialists from the two countries will participate in the seminar.

The choice of venue is significant. A large number of people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh that border Nepal had settled down in the Terai region. Known as Madhesis, these people of Indian origin not only control the lifeline of landlocked Nepal but have also emerged as one of the most important ethnic groups in the Nepalese political theatre.

A documentary film on “Team Nepal” and a presentation on border infrastructure will also be part of the interactions between the Indian and Nepalese delegations.

A statement issued by the division said, “The organization of this seminar highlights the importance India attaches to its relations with the neighbouring countries”. It stressed that the “objective behind the seminar is to discuss key aspects of our bilateral relations.