Foreign secretary Shringla’s Nepal visit for boosting developmental ties, review of issues

Foreign secretary Harsh Shringla’s visit to Nepal this week will be more about boosting the developmental partnership and connectivity and less about the border row that hit bilateral ties in recent months, people familiar with developments said on Monday.

The external affairs ministry said Shringla will travel to Nepal during November 26-27, his first visit to the country since assuming office in January. He will meet his Nepalese counterpart Bharat Raj Paudyal and other top officials to discuss wide-ranging bilateral cooperation.

India-Nepal relations were hit when Kathmandu issued a new political map in May that showed Uttarakhand’s Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura, all controlled by New Delhi, as part of Nepalese territory. The map was issued after India opened a key border road to Lipulekh.

In recent weeks, both countries have worked behind the scenes to improve bilateral ties against the backdrop of the India-China border standoff. Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief Samant Kumar Goel and Indian Army chief Gen MM Naravane recently visited Nepal and met Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli for talks aimed at taking forward the relationship.

“The foreign secretary’s visit won’t be about boundary talks. The Nepalese side, including Prime Minister Oli, has been reaching out and we want to enhance the level of engagement. The visit is also aimed at the review of all issues from a holistic perspective,” one of the people cited above said on condition of anonymity.

“India’s position on Nepal’s new map is very clear and unchanged. The new map includes Indian territory but then 98% of the boundary has also been demarcated,” the person added.

Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Nepal in 2014 – the first by an Indian premier in 17 years – the two sides have launched two cross-border power transmission lines and the Motihari-Amlekhgunj petroleum products pipeline, which is also the first such cross-border pipeline in South Asia. India has also completed some 100 high impact community development projects in the past six years and built 46,000 houses for people affected by the 2015 earthquake in Nepal.

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“The focus now is connectivity, including power lines, railway links and inland waterways, and ensuring better and faster movement on such projects. We are trying to expand the petroleum pipeline and ensure greater integration of the two economies. There will also be a security and strategic element to the foreign secretary’s visit,” the first person said.

“India’s Covid-related cooperation with Nepal also has been robust and will now extend to vaccines. There can be discord on some issues but that didn’t stop development projects or Covid-related cooperation,” a second person said.

Besides his meetings with Nepalese officials, Shringla’s visit may include a public address and a visit to an India-backed project.

The visit is in keeping with the priority India attaches to its ties with Nepal, and will also be an opportunity to further advance the relationship, the external affairs ministry said in a statement.