Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, ‘Prachanda’ is on an official visit to India. The visit is aimed at strengthening India-Nepal relations and to take the historical & cultural ties to new heights. In the past nine years of Modi government, India-Nepal partnership has truly been a “hit” as PM Modi described and the two nations took many important decisions today to make this partnership a “super hit in the future”.
PM Prachanda held high level talks with Indian PM Narendra Modi and the two leaders jointly launched several infrastructure projects and signed seven agreements to boost cooperation in key areas like trade and energy.
Indian Prime Minister Modi during the press meeting at Hyderabad House in Delhi after talks with PM Prachanda remembered that he had given a “hit” formula for India-Nepal relations – Highways, I-ways, and Trans-ways at the time of his first visit to Nepal in 2014. He said, today both the leaders have ‘taken many important decisions to make our partnership a super hit in the future.’
He also stressed that the two nations will work to take their bilateral ties to Himalayan heights and resolve all matters.
In his media address, Nepalese Prime Minister extended his invitation to PM Modi to visit Nepal. “This is my fourth visit to India. The relationship between India and Nepal is age-old. Today we discussed steps to strengthen the ties between both nations. We also jointly launched many groundbreaking projects,” said Nepal PM.
PM Modi told that the two nations have concluded the Transit Agreement today. In this, along with new rail routes for the people of Nepal, provision has also been made for the facility of India’s inland waterways. India-Nepal decided to increase physical connectivity by setting up new rail links. Along with this, it has also been decided to provide training to railway personnel of Nepal in Indian Railway Institutes.
To boost connectivity to the far western region of Nepal, two more bridges will be built at Shirsha and Jhulaghat.
Both leaders welcomed the steps taken in financial connectivity through cross border digital payments. Students, tourists and pilgrims as well as patients who have come to India for medical treatment will also benefit from this.
PM Modi said that India has set a target of importing 10,000 MW of electricity from Nepal in the coming ten years. Cooperation in the power sector has been further strengthened by agreements on the Phukot-Karnali and Lower Arun Hydro-Electric Projects.
In view of the positive impact of Motihari-Amlekhganj petroleum pipeline, it has been decided to take this pipeline up to Chitwan. Besides this, another new pipeline will also be constructed from Siliguri to Jhapa in eastern Nepal. Simultaneously, new storage terminals will also be set up at Chitwan and Jhapa.
India-Nepal have also agreed on mutual cooperation to set up a fertilizer plant in Nepal.
Nepal’s Foreign Minister Narayan Prasad Saud in an interview to Indian media said, India and Nepal are bound by shared history and culture, and the relationship between the two shouldn’t be viewed through the narrow prism of neighbour or trade ties.
See Also: https://indiadiplomacy.in/indias-buddhist-outreach-a-soft-facet-of-its-diplomacy/
