In July 2021, when Deuba came to power as Nepal PM for the fifth time, India was one of the first countries to congratulate him…reports Asian Lite News
During a three-day visit to India next month, Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a bilateral meeting on 2 April. Both sides are expected to review the India-Nepal Friendship Treaty of 1950, even as New Delhi will be looking at boosting connectivity, keeping in mind China’s growing inroads there.
This will be Deuba’s maiden visit to India since assuming charge in 2021. He has previously served four times as prime minister of Nepal. He last visited India as Nepal’s PM in 2017.
During the much-awaited bilateral meeting, Nepal is expected to raise the issue of reviewing the India-Nepal Friendship Treaty of 1950 — a long-pending demand by Kathmandu — in order to “even out the bilateral ties”, as well as take them to the “next level of strategic partnership”, sources told ThePrint.
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The decision to review the treaty was taken jointly by both countries during PM Modi’s first visit to Nepal after taking charge in August 2014. However, since then there has been no progress in the matter. The issue took a backseat subsequently with the Madhesi agitation of 2015, even as Nepal went through political turmoil domestically that continued till last year.
Ties between India and Nepal took a nosedive in 2020 when Kathmandu, then under former prime minister KPS Oli, unilaterally changed Nepal’s political map by including some disputed areas — Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura — with India as part of their territory. India has since rejected the map.
According to the sources, the border issue will feature prominently during the talks. Both sides may agree to finally activate the foreign secretary-level talks mechanism to kickstart the process of settling the border issue.
The two countries have institutionalised home secretary-level meetings and established the Joint Working Group on Border Management (JWG) and Border District Coordination Committees (BDCCs).
In November 2021, Modi and Deuba had met in Glasgow, UK, on the sidelines of the COP26 summit and vowed to strengthen ties between the two.
In July 2021, when Deuba came to power as Nepal PM for the fifth time, India was one of the first countries to congratulate him.
During his India trip, Deuba will also be visiting Varanasi in light of the religious connection between both countries’ Hindu and Buddhist communities.
As Nepal looks towards a higher growth trajectory post the coming in of Deuba, who is expected to bring political stability in the Himalayan nation, it is hoping to rely on India to give a further push to the development of connectivity projects there.
For New Delhi, another source told ThePrint, this visit is expected to give India the necessary legroom it needs to announce more connectivity projects over and above the existing ones.
This is of huge importance to the Modi government because China has started making heavy inroads there even as Beijing has promised several key connectivity projects there under its Belt and Road Initiative, to which Nepal is a signatory.
India has been developing connectivity projects in Nepal, including cross-border railway links, electrification projects and several roads and bridges. However, Nepal has been upset at the slower pace of these projects, and would want New Delhi to expedite those, sources said.
During his first visit to Kathmandu in 2014, Modi had pushed for the decade-old Indo-Nepal Pancheshwar Dam project on the Mahakali river. However, the project again got stuck as issues regarding the detailed project report (DPR) remained unresolved.
Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi met Deuba on Saturday. During the visit, both sides signed nine agreements on the development of projects, including a cross-border railway connection, a power grid project, and trade and commerce among others.
This comes in the wake of Nepal giving the green signal to the United States’ Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) — under which it is to receive financial aid for building infrastructure and improving national highways — earlier this month, which has upset China.
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