Modi assured Prachanda that India will work to take the relationship to Himalayan heights and resolve the boundary dispute between India and Nepal in the same spirit.
Among the highlights of the summit meeting was a revised transit agreement that will allow Nepal access to IndiaтАЩs inland waterways for the first time. India also acceded to NepalтАЩs proposal to export power to Bangladesh through Indian territory, while announcing it will ramp up its own power import from Nepal to 10,000 MW in the next 10 years. Nepal currently exports 450 MW to India.
03:38
PM Narendra Modi holds bilateral talks with Nepal PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal
Nepal PM calls for foreign secretary-level talks to resolve Kalapani dispute
The Nepal PM urged PM Modi to address the dispute over the Kalapani territory in Uttarakhand through the established mechanism of foreign secretary-level talks. Following IndiaтАЩs own 2019 revised map, Nepal had issued a new political map in 2020 claiming territory under IndiaтАЩs control and asking Indian soldiers to withdraw, a move India saw as a unilateral act not backed by any historical fact or evidence.
These relations (with India) stand on the solid foundation built, on the one hand, by the rich tradition of civilisational, cultural scoio-economic linkages and, on the other, by the two countriesтАЩ firm commitment to the time-tested principles of sovereign equality, mutual respect, understanding and cooperation,тАЩтАЩ said Prachanda in his media remarks after the meeting, adding IndiaтАЩs continued support and goodwill remained important for Nepal.
01:39
тАЬI urge PM Modi to resolve the boundary matterтАжтАЭ Nepalese PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal
Modi said IndiaтАЩs partnership had been a hit, recalling his own acronym HIT (Highways, I-ways and Transways) for the future India-Nepal ties during his first visit to Nepal as PM in 2014. “Today we took some important decisions to turn this into a superhit partnership. The transit agreement will facilitate use of new rail routes and inland waterways for the people of Nepal,тАЩтАЩ while listing the agreement and projects that encompassed areas like rail connectivity, power, petroleum pipeline and cross-border financial payments.
The two countries signed a long term Power Trade Agreement under which, as Modi said in his remarks to the media, India has set a target of importing 10,000 MW of electricity from Nepal in the coming ten years. The PM also said that he and Prachanda agreed projects related to Ramayana circuit should be expedited to strengthen religious and cultural links between the two countries.
04:49
PM Modi, PM Dahal inaugurate development projects to make India-Nepal ties тАШsuper hitтАЩ
“We will continue to work to give our relationship the height of the Himalayas. And in this spirit, we will solve all the issues, whether it is of boundary or any other issue.тАЩтАЩ Said Modi.
According to foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra, the two leaders engaged in comprehensive and future-oriented discussions aimed at taking the bilateral relationship forward in a manner thatтАЩs constructive, progressive and beneficial for both the societies.
Prachanda sought non-reciprocal market access to India with more flexible and easy quarantine procedures for NepalтАЩs agricultural products and simplified Rules of Origin for other products. тАЬWe also discussed the establishment of well┬н-equipped testing labs along the major border points and formalising the arrangement for mutual recognition of test certificates,тАЭ he said.
