[ad_1]
Kathmandu:
India and Nepal on Thursday agreed to step up efforts to advance mutual cooperation as Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla met the nation’s prime management and held “productive” talks along with his Nepalese counterpart on a variety of bilateral points.
Mr Shringla was accorded a heat welcome on his maiden go to to Nepal on the invitation of Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal, amid a pressure in bilateral ties following a bitter border row between the 2 international locations.
He paid a courtesy name on Prime Minister Ok P Sharma Oli on the latter’s official residence at Baluwatar, in line with prime minister’s Press advisor Surya Thapa.
Mr Shringla additionally referred to as on Nepal’s Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali and handed over 2,000 vials of anti-virus drug Remdesivir to him as a part of India’s persevering with help to the Himalayan nation to assist it include the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier, the international secretary met his Nepalese counterpart and had a “very productive and useful exchange” with him.
“FS @harshvshringla had a productive meeting with @PaudyalBR during which they took stock of bilateral cooperation and discussed issues of mutual interest,” the Indian embassy in Kathmandu mentioned in a tweet.
“Both sides appreciated the progress made on the numerous bilateral initiatives and projects. It was agreed to take further steps to advance mutual cooperation,” it mentioned in one other tweet.
Speaking to the media, he mentioned: “We had a very productive and useful exchange.”
“The very large number of issues of bilateral cooperation that we went through, it shows the multi-faceted and comprehensive nature of our cooperation. We both agreed on various steps to advance some areas of cooperation, on very good progress on commitments made by the leadership and looking at some other initiatives that could happen,” he mentioned.
Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs mentioned the 2 international secretaries mentioned varied elements of bilateral relations.
“Foreign Secretary @PaudyalBR held bilateral talks with Foreign Secretary of India @harshvshringla this afternoon covering various aspects of Nepal-India bilateral relations in a cordial manner,” the Foreign Ministry mentioned in a tweet.
While interacting with native journalists, Mr Shringla mentioned, “I have wanted to come here earlier also, but because of COVID-19 I couldn’t do so. I am very happy to be here. I was here in Kathmandu earlier too, though this is my first visit to Nepal as a Foreign Secretary. We have a very strong relationship. Our endeavour will be to see how we can take that relationship forward”.
“I would like to thank the government of Nepal, the foreign secretary for the warm hospitality extended to us. We have some very good meetings ahead of us and we will look forward to how that goes,” he mentioned.
Mr Shringla’s two-day go to will probably be a continuation of the common change of high-level visits between the 2 pleasant neighbours, the Nepalese Foreign Ministry mentioned in an announcement this week.
On Friday, he’ll ship a lecture on India-Nepal relations hosted by a assume tank in Kathmandu and can examine three faculties constructed beneath Indian help at Gorkha, the epicenter of the 2015 earthquake, it mentioned.
Mr Shringla may even hand over COVID-19-related help to the Government of Nepal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pledged to assemble 50,000 homes in Gorkha, the epicentre of the 2015 earthquake. The building of forty thousand homes has already been accomplished there.
“We have also focused on the education sector. India has also rebuilt school buildings in the Gorkha district. He will inaugurate three school buildings built in Gorkha under India”s assistance,” he mentioned.
Mr Shringla may even inaugurate a Buddhist monastery in Manang district located in a distant mountainous area of Nepal close to the Tibetan border, which was renovated beneath India’s help.
Earlier this month, Indian Army chief Gen. M M Naravane travelled to Nepal on a three-day go to throughout which he held talks with Nepal’s prime management and mentioned bilateral relations.
During the go to, he referred to as on Prime Minister Oli, who can be the Defence Minister of Nepal. Oli instructed him that issues between Nepal and India could be resolved by way of dialogue.
Gen Naravane’s three-day go to to Nepal was largely geared toward resetting bilateral ties that got here beneath extreme pressure following a bitter border row between the 2 international locations.
The ties between the 2 international locations got here beneath pressure after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated an 80-km-long strategically essential street connecting the Lipulekh move with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8.
Nepal protested the inauguration of the street claiming that it handed by way of its territory.
Days later, Nepal got here out with a brand new map displaying Lipulekh, Kalapani, and Limpiyadhura as its territories.
After Nepal launched the map, India reacted sharply, calling it a “unilateral act” and cautioning Kathmandu that such “artificial enlargement” of territorial claims won’t be acceptable to it.
In its response, after Nepal’s decrease home of parliament authorized the invoice, India had additionally termed as untenable the “artificial enlargement” of territorial claims by the neighbouring nation.
India had mentioned Nepal’s motion violates an understanding reached between the 2 international locations to resolve the boundary points by way of talks.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
[ad_2]
Source hyperlink