Nepal seeks 'transformative' ties, says no grudge against India

Nepal does not carry any old baggage against India and is determined to build a genuinely transformative relationship with its “close neighbor and most important partner,” said Nepal foreign minister Shisir Khanal as he met his counterpart S Jaishankar on Saturday, following another round of diplomatic strife over the border dispute.

Welcoming Khanal, Jaishankar said earlier India’s clear message to the new Nepal government was of collaboration and cooperation as there’s an opportunity today to “decisively shift the trajectory of India-Nepal relations”.

Significantly, neither side brought up the contentious border issue in their readouts, as Nepal said that the “productive” talks focused on trade and economic cooperation, cross-border connectivity, energy partnership, water resources management and people-to-people ties. However, diplomatic sources said the 2 sides did discuss ongoing going work on the boundary by joint field survey teams and and agreed to an early meeting of the existing mechanism on border management, while committing to resolving issues in the spirit of understanding and friendship.

On a 3-day visit to India - the first by any minister from either side since the government led by Balendra Shah took charge in March this year – Khanal also said that Nepal seeks to transform the civilizational bond between India and Nepal into a modern, development-oriented partnership.

“Nepal has placed the highest priority on its relationship with India. Under the new government, we are ready to engage substantively, purposefully, and at the highest possible levels,” said the minister, thanking India for the fuel and fertiliser supplies during the West Asia crisis.

The minister arrived here days Nepal’s ruling party RSP chairman Rabi Lamichhane visited India. Together, the visits have helped stabilize the relationship after the border flare-up last month that saw India dismissing Nepal’s territorial claims the new government in Kathmandu cited to protest resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through the Uttarakhand state crossing at Lipulekh Pass, near India-Nepal-China tri-junction.

In his opening remarks, Khanal said he was looking forward to a productive, candid, and outcome-oriented discussion that would set the stage for forthcoming “high-level visits and mark the beginning of a new chapter” in the bilateral relationship. This is significant as both sides work diplomatically to schedule a visit to India by Shah, who hasn’t travelled abroad since taking office. PM Narendra Modi had earlier invited him to visit India.

Jaishankar reiterated in the meeting India’s commitment to work with Nepal for mutual progress, prosperity and well-being of the people of both countries. He said there are strong complementarities between the objectives outlined by the Shah government and the initiatives that India has taken in the neighborhood, adding that India’s ties with Nepal are anchored in trust, goodwill and mutual benefit.

“A detailed discussion on our unique partnership, including on development cooperation, connectivity, energy, especially hydropower development, education, health, capacity building, digital, culture and sports,” said the minister.

After the meeting, Jaishankar virtually handed over 72 health facilities and 12 cultural heritage projects under the post 2015 earthquake Reconstruction Programme. The ministers also together announced the operationalisation of an initiative for facilitating cross-border personal remittances. Jaishankar said that both ministers witnessed after the meeting the exchange of an MoU between Digital India Bhashini and Kathmandu University for co-creating National Digital Infrastructure for ‘Voice First’ Language Translation platform for Nepal.

According to Jaishankar, while bilateral ties have steadily developed in areas like trade, commerce, investment, energy and development cooperation, there’s now an opportunity to also take it forward in newer domains like startups, AI, information technology and renewable energy.

Describing Nepal as a priority partner, an Indian readout said that the ministers also welcomed the completion of internal processes for entry into force of the India-Nepal Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement in Criminal Matters (MLAA). “This agreement will benefit the people of India and Nepal by providing an institutional legal framework to enhance the effectiveness of investigation, prosecution and judicial proceedings relating to cross-border crimes,” it said.
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