KATHMANDU:: During Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's impending visit to India, the two countries are planning to sign a number of agreements, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kathmandu said on Saturday, May 27.
The Ministry in its statement said Pushpa Kamal Dahal's visit is on the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Prachanda will be accompanied by his daughter Ganga Dahal and various other dignitaries and high-ranking officers.
According to Nepali ofoficials, a number of agreements and memorandums of understanding would be inked during delegation-level discussions between Prachanda and Modi on June 1. Haribol Gajurel, Prachanda's chief political adviser said, the Nepali side will seek an aviation access route through Indian territory during the visit in order to use its two recently constructed international airports in Pokhara and Bhairawha. He said, there won't be any real progress made in resolving the bilateral boundary dispute. Instead, the two sides will talk about their energy trade and the long-delayed Pancheshowr Multipurpose Project, both of which were signed in 1996. Gajurel added that the boundary dispute, which is a somewhat complicated issue, cannot be resolved during this visit.
The Uttarakhand region of India, which is part of the Darchula district of Nepal, is the subject of a boundary dispute between Nepal and India. The Nepali government released a new political map in May 2020 in reaction to the Indian political map that was published in 2019 and that included the Indian territories of Kalapani, Lipu Lekh, and Limpiyadhura.
"This time, the boundary conflict won't be resolved. This is an intricate issue. Serious disagreements exist between Nepal and India regarding a boundary issue. This argument ought to come to a satisfactory conclusion. We can move towards resolving the boundary dispute in the right way once we have settled and resolved other unresolved concerns, according to Gajurel.
According to Nepali officials, important agreements regarding cross-border energy cooperation and trade would be made during the visit. The agreement also calls for the establishment of a dry port in Nepal's Chadani-Dodhara region, the opening of integrated checkpoints in Nepalgunj, and the construction of a new integrated checkpoint in Bhairawaha.
Further , the agreement lists the opening of a rail yard in Biratnagar that is connected to Jogbini, India; the building and expansion of two petroleum pipelines; allowing Nepal Television to broadcast in India; energy trading between Nepal and Bangladesh via India; and a 25-year agreement on electricity trading between two state-owned agencies so that neither party needs to repeatedly request approval.
During the visit, agreements will be signed on, among other things, the development of Lower Arun and Phukot Karnali by Indian developers, a cross-border transmission line, and the provision of chemical fertiliser to Nepal.
We haven't come to a conclusion on the boundary problem yet, so our attention is on resolving the other issues first. The boundary dispute would come up during the bilateral talks between Prachanda and Modi, he continued, but that won't dominate the entire talks.
The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will co-host the Nepal-India Business Summit in New Delhi, where Dahal will also speak, the ministry announced.
Dahal will also pay courtesy visits to both Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and President Droupadi Murmu, according to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.
The announcement from the Indian side states, "Prime Minister Dahal will be visiting Ujjain and Indore as part of his visit, in addition to the official events.
In his three stints as prime minister, Prime Minister Dahal has travelled to India four times. The visit is expected to further solidify Nepal and India's long-standing, warmly amicable, multidimensional relations.
Nepal PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal to embark on India