Nepalese Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali will visit India this month to meet with his counterpart S Jaishankar with the aim of boosting efforts to restore normalcy to bilateral ties affected by a border row earlier this year.
Gyawali will be the highest-ranking Nepalese leader to visit India since ties were derailed in May, when Kathmandu issued a new political map that included Indian territories. The map was published in response to India’s opening up a strategic path to the border region of Lipulekh, claimed by Nepal.
After months of rancor, Nepal signaled its intention to reestablish ties when Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli reached out to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi by phone on August 15 to exchange greetings on Independence Day.
Consecutive visits to Nepal by the chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) Samant Goel, the chief of the Indian army, General MM Naravane and the Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla had prepared the ground for Gyawali’s trip to India to late December, according to people familiar with the events in New Delhi and Kathmandu said on condition of anonymity.
“Foreign Minister Gyawali is expected to visit New Delhi to chair a meeting of the India-Nepal joint commission. The dates have not yet been announced, ”said one of the people cited above.
During Shringla’s visit to Nepal last month, the two sides underscored the importance of respecting each other’s sensitivities and handling the boundary issue under appropriate bilateral mechanisms, while at the same time advancing cooperation on connectivity projects and developing.
The joint commission meeting is expected to be preceded by consultations between officials from the two sides on a variety of issues, including trade and transit, and water resources.
Prakash Dahal, a spokesman for Nepal’s Ministry of Commerce, was quoted by The Kathmandu Post as saying that the two sides are close to finalizing the amendment of the bilateral transit treaty and the agreement on rail services. Nepal is also interested in concessions for its agricultural products and the transshipment of goods sent from third countries via India.
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