Indian and Nepalese PM meet: India-Nepal Rail link, launch RuPay payment system and Power Projects
The Nepalese PM is on a visit to India with a high-level delegation including four of his cabinet ministers from foreign affairs, energy, water resources, health and agriculture sectors.
Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is on a three-day visit to India to meet important leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This is his first bilateral visit abroad after becoming prime minister for the fifth time in July last year.
During the meeting between the two PMs, they flagged off the first passenger broad gauge train service which will connect the border town of Jaynagar in Bihar with Kurtha in Nepal. The Diesel Electric Multiple Units (DEMU) train will have five coaches. The present 35km rail link is to extend further in Nepal joining Jayanagar-Kurtha-Bijalpur-Bardibas. Progress on the other two proposed rail routes was also talked over namely Jogbani-Biratnagar and Raxaul-Kathmandu routes.
The use of RuPay digital payment system was also launched jointly by both PMs for use in Nepal. This will decrease Nepal’s reliance on platforms such as Visa and Mastercard which are predominantly controlled by western world.
The two also inaugurated the Solu Corridor 132 KV Power Transmission Line and Substation in Nepal built under Govt of India’s Line of Credit. Ministry of External Affairs said, “Both sides agreed to expedite progress in the implementation of the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project, beginning with early finalisation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR).” Nepalese PM urged for greater participation of Indian companies in Nepal’s hydropower development projects and lauded the fresh approvals granted to the Nepal Electricity Authority for the export of substantial amounts of power to India.
To add to this Deuba was all praises for India and said, “We’ve seen India’s effective management battling Covid-19 and received first vaccine aid from India as well as medicines, medical equipment and logistics to combat Covid.” After his meeting with PM Modi he further added, “We had friendly talks and fruitful discussions on various aspects of India-Nepal relations. We shared our perspectives on further strengthening our friendly ties.”
A very important development during the meet was the discussion on border issues. Deuba said, “We discussed the boundary issues. And I urged Modiji to resolve it through bilateral mechanism,” to which Modi responded by saying, “We also discussed today the issue of open borders of India and Nepal being misused by unwanted elements. We stressed on maintaining close cooperation between our defence and security institutions. I am sure that our talks today will prove to be effective in setting ambitious goals for the future of India-Nepal relations.”
Deuba on his India visit has so far met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval as well as BJP President JP Nadda. In the last leg of his visit, he is slated to go to Varanasi where Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is supposed to meet him and take care of the proceedings.
