New Delhi, Feb 14 (FN Agency) Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra on Monday called on Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ in Kathmandu and held productive discussions on bilateral issues, including economic and development cooperation.The Indian Embassy in Nepal in a tweet said: “Foreign Secretary Kwatra called on Rt. Hon. PM @cmprachanda and held productive discussions on bilateral issues across various sectors, including economic and development cooperation.” Earlier in the day, the Indian Foreign Secretary, who is on a two-day visit to Kathmandu, called on Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Nepalese Foreign Minister Bimala Rai Paudyal during which the two sides had a fruitful exchange on strengthening the bilateral ties. The Indian Embassy in Nepal, in tweets, said that the FS conveyed the greetings of Indian President Droupadi Murmu to the Nepalese President: “Foreign Secretary Shri Vinay Kwatra paid a courtesy call on Rt. Hon’ble President of Nepal Mrs. Bidya Devi Bhandari at Sheetal Niwas and conveyed greetings on behalf of Hon’ble President of India Smt. Droupadi Murmu.”On his meeting with the Nepalese Foreign Minister, the Embassy said: “Foreign Secretary Shri Vinay Kwatra called on Hon’ble Foreign Minister of Nepal @bimalarp today and had a fruitful exchange on strengthening the comprehensive India-Nepal relations.” He also held talks with his Nepalese counterpart Bharat Raj Paudyal and reviewed the wide-ranging bilateral relationship. “Foreign Secretary Shri Vinay Kwatra met his counterpart Mr Bharat Raj Paudyal and reviewed the wide-ranging India-Nepal partnership. #IndiaNepalFriendship,” the Indian Embassy said.
The Nepalese Foreign Ministry in a statement said that Nepalese Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal and his Indian counterpart Vinay Mohan Kwatra, during their meeting, “reviewed various aspects of Nepal-India relations covering connectivity, trade and transit, power sector cooperation, agriculture, education, culture, health sector and people to people relations, among others.” They reviewed with satisfaction the progress made in the connectivity projects such as railways, transmissions lines, bridges and the ICPs. The Nepalese side thanked the Government of India for the supply of fertilizers, easing of export restrictions on food grains, and delivery of dialysis machines. The two sides discussed the early conclusion of the renewed transit treaty, review of the trade treaty, and convening of the Inter-governmental Committee on Trade (IGC) at an early date, the statement said. They “expressed commitment to allow export of power from Nepal to India on long-term basis utilizing all products of the exchange market”. They also discussed technical upgrading of cross-border transmission lines and early approval of the four proposed transmission line projects under the LOC-IV. The Nepalese Foreign Secretary reiterated the request of his government for additional air-entry routes as well as early concurrence of the near border flight operation of the Gautam Buddha International Airport, Bhairahawa.
They also discussed the boundary matters. In this regard, they exchanged views on completing the boundary works in the remaining segments through the established bilateral mechanisms.They also agreed to finalize the MoU between foreign service academies of the two countries. The meeting was held in an atmosphere of friendship and cordiality reflecting the close and multifaceted relations between the two neighbours. Foreign Secretary Paudyal hosted luncheon in honour of the visiting Indian Foreign Secretary and the members of his delegation, the statement said.Earlier in the day, Foreign Secretary Kwatra, a former Indian envoy to Nepal, arrived in Kathmandu at the head of a four-member team. He was received at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport by his Nepalese counterpart Bharat Raj Paudyal, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava and others. From the airport, he went directly to Hotel Yak and Yeti.Nepal desk chief at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs Joint Secretary Anurag Srivastava (North) is also part of FS Kwatra’s team.A Nepalese daily quoting sources said that Kwatra is visiting Nepal to fix the date and agenda of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s India visit. This is the first stand-alone visit of the Foreign Secretary to Nepal since he assumed charge of his post.