Updated: November 27, 2020 7:25:33 am
Foreign Secretary, Harsh Vardhan Shringla.
In the first high-level diplomatic visit to Nepal since the slippage of ties following the border dispute this summer, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla arrived in Kathmandu on Thursday and met with the country’s leaders, including Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
The sources said the Foreign Secretary’s discussions with Oli – they had a one-on-one meeting, in addition to the delegation-level talks – included a “candid review of the state of the bilateral relationship” and the potential to bring India closer together. and Nepal. .
Oli, Indian sources said, conveyed Nepal’s desire to build on the momentum in the bilateral relationship and improve the level of engagement.
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Sources said that the special relations between India and Nepal, and the importance of “respecting the sensitivities of others” were highlighted during the meeting.
Both sides considered that “we should focus on the positive aspects of the wide-ranging relationship,” the sources said.
“Both sides shared their views on border issues and discussed ways to carry it out under the appropriate bilateral mechanisms,” the sources said.
Nepalese Foreign Ministry, in a statement, said: “They also discussed boundary issues and exchanged views on the completion of boundary work in the remaining segments.”
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Before meeting Oli, Shringla met with Nepal’s Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali. At that meeting, it was learned that Shringla transmitted an invitation from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, S Jaishankar, to Gyawali to visit India for the next round of the Joint Commission Meeting.
At the meeting, all facets of the bilateral relationship were discussed, the Indian embassy in Kathmandu said.
Shringla also delivered more than 2,000 vials of Remdesivir to Gyawali on behalf of India as ongoing assistance for Covid-19 patients.
Following his meeting with his counterpart Bharat Raj Paudyal, Shringla said: “We had a very productive and useful exchange, we went through a lot of bilateral cooperation issues. It shows the multifaceted and comprehensive nature of our cooperation. “
“We both agreed on several steps to advance in some areas of cooperation … very good progress in the commitments made by the leadership and in some other initiatives that could happen,” he said.
On his first visit to Nepal as Foreign Secretary, Shringla is meeting with leaders from across the political spectrum – meeting delegations from the Nepalese Congress and Madhes leaders. He also met with President Bidya Devi Bhandari. Return from Kathmandu on Friday.
The visit is seen as a reciprocal gesture that follows Oli’s contact on August 15 via phone call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
While New Delhi is not changing its stance on the boundary issue, Shringla’s visit aims to get the relationship back on track, six months after the map issue affected bilateral ties.
India’s inauguration of a new road from Dharchula to Lipulekh on the Mansarovar Yatra route in May angered the Oli government, which presented a new map of Nepal, adding an area of 370 square kilometers at the triple junction of Nepal, India and China (Tibet) that India maintains is its territory.
Nepal’s parliament passed a constitutional amendment bill to legitimize the alteration of the country’s map with the addition of Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura. The approval of the bill and the new map caused the breakdown of communication between the two countries.
Shringla’s visit is an effort to re-establish ties. He and Oli, the sources said, discussed specific steps that could be taken to finalize key projects as soon as possible, including the Pancheshwar Multi-Purpose Project, as well as to launch new economic initiatives.
Nepal’s Foreign Ministry said the two sides also reviewed with satisfaction the progress made regarding bilateral cooperation projects, including key connectivity projects and post-earthquake reconstruction work.
Indian sources said the need to resume person-to-person contact was discussed, including the beginning of an air travel bubble between India and Nepal.
Oli thanked Shringla for India’s help during the Covid pandemic. Discussions were held on vaccine development and deployment, and the Foreign Secretary said that Nepal’s requirement would be considered as a priority.
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