Nepal-India foreign secretaries reiterate cooperation, connectivity and development

Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal in New Delhi on an official visit to India this afternoon at the invitation of the Foreign Secretary of India Shri Vinay Mohan Kwatra. Photo: Embassy of Nepal in India

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Kathmandu: Nepal and India have renewed commitments on a broad range of issues including economic and commercial cooperation, enhancing connectivity, development cooperation, trade, culture and people-people relations during the meeting between Nepal’s Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal and his Indian counterpart Vinaya Kwatra.

​Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal is in New Delhi on his official visit that started on Tuesday.

During the bilateral meeting on Tuesday, two secretaries reviewed the entire spectrum of bilateral cooperation between India and Nepal, including economic and commercial cooperation, enhancing connectivity, development cooperation, trade, culture, and people-people relations, according to the statement issued by India’s Ministry of External Affairs.

They noted with appreciation the recent progress in bilateral cooperation in the power sector including through the export of power from Nepal to India. It was also agreed that both sides will work to further strengthen such cooperation in keeping with the Joint Vision Statement on Power Sector Cooperation adopted during the visit of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to India in April 2022.

The Nepali side appreciated the Covid-19 assistance provided by India during the pandemic and also thanked the Indian side for keeping the supply lines of trade open, even during the peak of the lockdown, according to the statement.

To further strengthen people-people links, both sides agreed to expeditiously progress on project proposals for the Ramayana Circuit. Both sides also agreed to expeditiously implement the extension of the petroleum pipeline from Amlekhgunj to Chitwan and the construction of an LPG pipeline from Motihari to Chitwan.