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CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is on a three-day visit to India, held a meeting with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President JP Nadda at the BJP's central office in New Delhi on Sunday.

During the meeting, the duo discussed bilateral ties between Nepal and India.

Minister for External Affairs S. Jaishankar was also present in the meeting.

Earlier on Friday, Dahal met Minister for External Affairs S. Jaishankar and Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi among others.

He left for India at the invitation of Nadda on Friday.

Dahal is scheduled to return home today.

Federal Council Chair of Janata Samajbadi  Party (JSP) Baburam Bhattarai has condemned the action taken against him and other leaders and demanded the cancellation of the said decision.

After JSP Chair Upendra Yadav decided to take action against nine leaders of the party including Bhattarai, he issued a statement on Friday night and appealed to everyone to join in the reorganization of the new party. Chair Yadav has clarified that they have been punished for action against the party's rules, regulations and procedures.

JSP leader Mohammad Istiaq Rai said the meeting of the party is called by the party chair and it is up to the other leaders to take part or not in the meeting.

Federal Council Chair Bhattarai has also appealed to all the central members who have been working continuously for the transformation of the party to reorganize the party. "We strongly condemn this action and dismiss the action. In this situation, there is no option before us to reorganize the party", the statement said.

Separate meetings of the party were held under the leadership of Yadav and Bhattarai. Yadav took a decision to relieve Bhattarai and leaders close to this fact from all responsibilities while Bhattarai took a decision to reorganize the party.

The Executive Committee members of Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce & Industry (NICCI) led by President Shreejana Rana paid a courtesy call on newly appointed Ambassador of India to Nepal Naveen Srivastava at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu on Friday.

During the meeting, Rana discussed NICCI’s contribution to development of Nepal-India bilateral trade, transit, investment, energy and tourism in the last 30 years.

She emphasized that NICCI will remain pro-active for bilateral developments in these areas.

The delegation also informed the ambassador  on the activities  done by the Chamber and also discussed the planed programs of the Chamber like Partnership Summit and Energy Summit among others for the ongoing and upcoming years and requested the embassy for the active support.

President Rana also touched upon the importance of bilateral tourism.

She briefed the Indian Ambassador about the Nepal-India Bilateral Tourism Promotion Joint Working Group that has taken place in the last few years which was facilitated by NICCI.

In response, Ambassador Srivastava appreciated the works done by NICCI and thanked NICCI team for the visit.

He said that India has always been supporting in the development of Nepal and so continues to support in overall development of Nepal today as well.

He expressed his assurance to support NICCI’s activities for enhancing Nepal-India bilateral trade, transit, investment and overall economic relation in the days ahead and eager to work together.

Ambassador Srivastava along with First Secretary (Commerce) Abhishek Upadhyay were present in the meeting from the embassy while the delegates of NICCI led by President Rana was accompanied by the Executive Committee members.

Russia is preparing for the next stage of its offensive in Ukraine, a Ukrainian military official said, after Moscow said its forces would step up military operations in "all operational areas," Reuters reported.

Russian rockets and missiles have pounded cities in strikes that Kyiv says have killed dozens in recent days.

"It is not only missile strikes from the air and sea," Vadym Skibitskyi, a spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence, said on Saturday. "We can see shelling along the entire line of contact, along the entire front line. There is an active use of tactical aviation and attack helicopters.

"There is indeed a certain activation of the enemy along the entire front line... Clearly preparations are now underway for the next stage of the offensive.”

The Ukrainian military said Russia appeared to be regrouping units for an offensive towards Sloviansk, a symbolically important city held by Ukraine in the eastern region of Donetsk.

Ukraine says at least 40 people have been killed in Russian shelling of urban areas in the last three days, as the war launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Feb. 24 intensifies.

Rockets hit the northeastern town of Chuhuiv in Kharkiv region on Friday night, killing three people including a 70-year-old woman and wounding three others, said regional Governor Oleh Synehubov.

"Three people lost their lives, why? What for? Because Putin went mad?" said Raisa Shapoval, 83, a distraught resident sitting in the ruins of her home, according to Reuters.

To the south, more than 50 Russian Grad rockets pounded the city of Nikopol on the Dnipro River, killing two people who were found in the rubble, said Governor Valentyn Reznichenko.

Moscow, which calls the invasion a "special military operation" to demilitarise and "denazify" its neighbour, says it uses high-precision weapons to degrade Ukraine's military infrastructure and protect its own security. It has repeatedly denied targeting civilians.

Kyiv and the West say the conflict is an unprovoked attempt to reconquer a country that broke free of Moscow's rule with the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered military units to intensify operations to prevent Ukrainian strikes on eastern Ukraine and other areas held by Russia, where he said Kyiv could hit civilian infrastructure or residents, according to a statement from the ministry.

His remarks appeared to be a direct response to what Kyiv says is a string of successful strikes carried out on 30 Russian logistics and ammunitions hubs, using several multiple launch rocket systems recently supplied by the West.

The strikes are causing havoc with Russian supply lines and have significantly reduced Russia's offensive capability, Ukraine's defence ministry spokesperson said on Friday, Reuters reported.