External affairs minister S. Jaishankar on Saturday said India and Nepal now have an opportunity to decisively shift the trajectory of the bilateral relationship and realise its full potential.
He said this in his opening remarks at the delegation-level talks with his Nepalese counterpart, Shisir Khanal, in New Delhi.
Stating that there are strong complementarities between the objectives outlined by the Balendra Shah government in Nepal and the initiatives taken by India in the neighbourhood, Jaishankar called for taking forward the existing bilateral ties in trade, commerce, investment, energy, development cooperation and disaster response to new domains, including start-ups, artificial intelligence, information technology and renewable energy.
He referred to the collaboration between the two countries to maintain security along the “long and uniquely open border”, and underscored that Kathmandu and New Delhi have always stood by each other in times of need, pointing to India ensuring uninterrupted fuel supplies to Nepal through the ongoing crisis in West Asia.
Both ministers welcomed the completion of the internal processes of the India-Nepal Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement in Criminal Matters (MLAA). This agreement will benefit the people of India and Nepal by providing an institutional legal framework to enhance the effectiveness of investigation, prosecution and judicial proceedings relating to cross-border crimes.
Khanal’s visit comes close on the heels of Nepal flagging the boundary dispute over Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura in the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand. In early May, Nepal raised objections to the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra passing through Lipulekh, contending it is Nepalese territory, to which India pointed out that this has been the route of the pilgrimage since 1954.
Shah set off a controversy last weekend in Nepal Parliament with his remarks regarding Nepalese encroachment on Indian territory, following which both sides maintained that 98 per cent of the India-Nepal boundary had been demarcated.
