Tuesday, March 19, 2024 | Ramadan 8, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

India and Nepal agree to boost security, connectivity, trade ties

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New Delhi: After months of stress in ties, India and Nepal on Saturday agreed to crank-up cooperation in connectivity, trade, agriculture and border security as Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave an assurance that New Delhi remains committed to strengthening the partnership as per Nepal’s priorities.


Seeking to readjust the ties, Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, on a three-day visit to India, held wide-ranging talks with Modi, who also assured the visiting leader that India would always back Nepal in its quest for development.


A joint statement issued after the talks said Prime Minister Oli stated that his government attaches high importance to further strengthening friendly relations with India.


He expressed the desire of the government of Nepal to develop bilateral relations in a way so as to benefit from India’s progress and prosperity for economic transformation and development.


“Prime Minister Modi assured Prime Minister Oli that India remains committed to strengthening its partnership with Nepal as per the priorities of the Government of Nepal,” the statement said.


Oli said he has come to India “with a mission” to take bilateral ties based on “principles of equality and justice” to newer heights but “commensurate with the realities of the 21st Century”.


In a joint address to the media with Oli, Modi hailed the Nepal prime minister’s “vision for a prosperous Nepal” that is in sync with his vision of “sabka sath, sabka vikas” (development for all).


Modi hailed successful conduct of polls in Nepal and congratulated both the people of Nepal and the government for entering into “a new era of political history”.


He said the two countries agreed to put on faster tracks all connectivity projects, announcing that a new railway line will be built “with India’s financial support” to connect the border city of Raxaul in India to Kathmandu in Nepal.


The objective, according to a joint statement, is to expand “connectivity” between the two neighbours and “enhance people-to-people linkages and promote economic growth and development”.


Prime Ministers Modi and Oli also recognised the untapped potential of inland waterways between the countries that can contribute in an overall economic development of the Himalayan region.


Boosting their ties further, India also agreed to conduct a pilot project on organic farming and soil health monitoring in Nepal to help the natural resource-rich neighbour in developing agriculture and allied sectors. — IANS


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