KATHMANDU: India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is all set to hold a bilateral meeting of the taskforces constituted to review the agreements and treaties signed between Nepal and India within a month.
Earlier in February, the Nepal government had formed the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) under former ambassador to India Bhekh Bahadur Thapa to review the treaties, including the Peace and Friendship Treaty signed in 1950, and dimension of relations between the two countries.
Likewise, India had also formed a four-member committee under ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s Nepal expert Bhagat Singh Koshiyari.
The office of Indian EPG will be housed at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA). Former Indian ambassador to Nepal Jayant Prasad, Professor Mahendra P Lama and Professor BC Upreti are the members of the Indian EPG.
An MEA meeting on Tuesday discussed on issues pertaining to necessary bilateral consultations after Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s visit, activation of various bilateral mechanisms and the agreements signed during the visit.
Nepali Ambassador to India Deep Kumar Upadhyay, Deputy Chief of Nepali mission in India Krishna Prasad Dhakal and Counsellor Political Affairs Tirtha Raj Wagle from the Nepali side, while Joint Secretary at Nepal Affairs Desk Abhaya Thakur, among other office bearers, represented the Indian side at the meeting that lasted for about two hours.
It has been learnt that joint meeting of the EPG will be held in Kathmandu and that the two sides have been working on their part to prepare agendas for the purpose. According to an official present at the meeting, a broader discussion was held regarding the problems in the construction of long-stalled postal road.
“There are high chances of project-specific bilateral meetings in order to improve the effectiveness and remove the obstacles seen in implementing the projects,” said the official.
The meeting also discussed the fuel shortage in Nepal despite there being no blockade. However, the Nepali side responded that the crisis situation was only an artificial one as Indian Oil Corporation has increased the supply of fuel as demanded by Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC).
