India-Nepal ties: Modi promises to take them to “Himalayan heights” as Dahal comes calling
New Delhi, June 1: Nepal’s prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal held talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Thursday. Dahal, who is on his first foreign trip since taking office in December last year, is on a four day visit here. This is his fourth visit to India.
Both leaders discussed the entire spectrum of bilateral cooperation, including political, economic, trade, energy, connectivity, infrastructure cooperation and also development partnership. After the meeting, the two prime ministers remotely inaugurated several projects, including a cargo railwaiy line and two border checkpoints,. Numerous agreements were also signed by the two sides.
At a joint press conference Modi said that they had agreed to further deepen their historic ties and “take our relations to Himalayan heights.” All outstanding issues would be resolved, Modi said.
Dahal said that they had reviewed ongoing projects and discussed ways to further cooperate in connectivity, energy and people-to-people contact.
Earlier in the day, India’s Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said Nepal occupies a very special place in India’s “Neighbourhood First” policy. “Our relationship with Nepal is unique and characterised by open borders and civilisational ties that are anchored in our shared cultural and religious traditions, manifesting strong people-to-people linkages including kinship,” Kwatra said.
The foreign secretary further said that the talks between the two Prime Ministers characterised the traditional warmth and cordiality between both the two nations.
A major decision announced was the intention to increase the quantum of export of power from Nepal to India to 10,000 MW within the next 10 years
Nepal is bordered on three sides by India, with an open frontier allowing traffic without passports or visas. Nepal and India share strong civilizational and historical ties, while Nepal’s landlocked geography also makes it dependent on India for access to the sea and for most consumer and energy requirements.
More recently, China has been expanding its footprint in the country, challenging India’s dominance there. China has invested in major infrastructure projects in the Himalayan country as Nepal is significant to China’s ambitious Belt and Road project. The Communist Party of China is also close to the Communist Party of Nepal, which came to power in Nepal in 2017. The current coalition government is headed by a communist prime minister.
Relations with India soured in 2015, when it supported protests by ethnic groups in southern Nepal against a new constitution and imposed an unofficial economic blockade, shutting down the supply of oil and goods over the border. In 2020 Nepal issues a map that included an area claimed by both countries.
