Foreign Minister Khanal briefs house on India visit and Nepal–India border issues
Kathmandu: Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal has briefed the House of Representatives on his recent visit to India, Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s reply to Parliament on the 17th of this month, and matters related to the Nepal–India border.
Minister Khanal said he made an official visit to neighboring India from the 22nd to the 24th of this month, during which he held extensive and fruitful discussions on various aspects of bilateral relations with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar.
During the bilateral talks, substantive discussions were held on trade and economic cooperation, connectivity, energy partnership, water resource management, sports, and the strengthening of people-to-people relations. Both sides also expressed commitment to further strengthening bilateral relations and exchanged views on regional and international issues, the minister informed.
He stated that several agreements and understandings were reached during the visit, including a memorandum of understanding between the Digital Public Infrastructure and Artificial Intelligence Center of Kathmandu University School of Engineering and the Digital India Bhashini Division for cross-border P2P payment transactions under an MoU with NCHL, the handover of earthquake reconstruction projects in Nepal carried out with India’s development assistance, and the co-development of a national digital infrastructure under a Voice First Language Translation Platform.
Minister Khanal also said discussions were held with India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on various aspects of shared security interests between Nepal and India, border management, and strategic partnership.
He further informed the House that he addressed the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) at an India Foundation program, where he highlighted Nepal’s foreign policy priorities and engaged with participants on issues of mutual interest, including energy, trade, and border affairs.
“I feel that the discussions and high-level meetings during the visit have taken diplomatic and economic cooperation between Nepal and India to a new height and have laid a strong foundation for result-oriented cooperation in the coming days,” Minister Khanal said. “We have had an opportunity to present our balanced, independent and multifaceted foreign policy more effectively.
A solid foundation has been laid for expanding trade and investment, strengthening energy cooperation, promoting tourism, and further enhancing connectivity and people-to-people relations.” He also noted that views were exchanged on contemporary international issues such as regional stability, supply chain security, and energy partnership.