Kathmandu, Jan 4: Nepal and India on Thursday comprehensively reviewed the status of bilateral ties and areas of cooperation that exist between the two countries during the seventh meeting of the India-Nepal Joint Commission here. To take part in the meeting, India’s External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, arrived in Kathmandu on Thursday and co-chaired the talks along with his Nepal counterpart, N.P. Saud.
“Had a comprehensive and productive meeting of the 7th India-Nepal Joint Commission. The discussions focused on our overall bilateral ties, trade and economic relations, land, rail, and air connectivity projects, cooperation in defence and security, agriculture, energy, power, water resources, disaster management, tourism, civil aviation, people-to-people contact, cultural exchanges and development partnership, Jaishankar tweeted.
The Joint Commission is the highest-level political mechanism between Nepal and India to take stock of the state of bilateral relations.
During the meeting, Nepal and India inked several agreements and memorandums of understanding (MoU), where India announced a grant of NPR 1,000 crore for the country’s reconstruction bid after the devastating earthquake last year. This is a new grant announced by India to assist Nepal in its reconstruction bid.
India announces NPR 1K cr aid to Nepal
India on Thursday announced a Rs (Nepalese Rupee) 1,000 crore grant for Nepal’s reconstruction bid during the seventh meeting of Nepal-India Joint Commission at the Foreign Ministerial-level, an official said.
Earlier, following the devastating earthquake in 2015 in the Himalayan nation, India had announced a $1 billion grant and loan for Nepal’s reconstruction bid.
The newly announced assistance of Rs 1,000 crore, however, is a fresh one, an official said.
The agreement was signed during the visit of Indian External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar to Kathmandu.
Nepal, India sign long-term power agreement
Nepal on Thursday signed a long-term agreement that will facilitate the export of 10,000 MW of electricity to India in the next 10 years during the two-day visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to the Himalayan nation.
The agreement on power export was inked in the presence of Jaishankar and Nepalese Minister for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet during a bilateral meeting here.
Nepal’s Energy Secretary Gopal Sigdel and his Indian counterpart Pankaj Agrawal inked the bilateral agreement that will facilitate the export of 10,000 MW of electricity from Nepal to India in the next 10 years.
The two countries had reached an understanding on the electricity export during Prime Minister Pushpakamal Dahal Prachanda’s visit to India from May 31 to June 3 last year. (Agencies)
