"We Give Highest Priority To Our Ties": Nepal Calls India "Most Important Partner"

India and Nepal share a "special" relationship and there is an opportunity to "decisively" shift the engagement to realise its full potential, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday during a meeting with his Nepalese counterpart Shishir Khanal.

The two ministers vowed to take the bilateral ties to "new heights" while reviewing the full spectrum of the relations, covering development cooperation, connectivity, trade and transit, energy, and people-to-people ties, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

The Nepalese foreign minister also held talks with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

Khanal kicked off a three-day trip to New Delhi on Friday to strengthen bilateral ties, a visit overshadowed by a raging controversy triggered by Nepalese Prime Minister Balendra Shah's recent remarks on the boundary row between the two sides.

Delving into various aspects of the bilateral ties, the external affairs minister reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "sentiment regarding India's commitment to working with Nepal for mutual prosperity, progress and well-being of the two countries." In his comments at the meeting, Khanal said Nepal accords "highest priority" to its relationship with India and the Shah-led government is ready to engage "substantively and purposefully" with New Delhi.

"We carry no old baggage and have only firm resolve for a genuinely transformative relationship with our close neighbour and the most important partner," he said.

Nepal is important for India in the context of its overall strategic interests in the region, and leaders of the two countries have often noted the age-old "Roti Beti" relationship.

"The discussions were held in a warm, friendly and constructive atmosphere, reflecting the unique and special ties between the two countries," the MEA said.

Following the meeting, Jaishankar virtually handed over 72 health facilities and 12 cultural heritage projects completed under India's post-2015 earthquake reconstruction assistance to Nepal.

The two ministers also jointly launched the linkage between India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Nepal's National Payments Interface (NPI) to facilitate personal remittances between the two countries.

Jaishankar and Khanal welcomed the completion of internal processes for the entry into force of the India-Nepal Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement in criminal matters (MLAA).

The 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, the MEA said.

The two ministers expressed "satisfaction" over the progress achieved in bilateral cooperation across diverse sectors and welcomed recent initiatives to enhance cooperation in areas of innovation, startups, digital and financial technology and capacity building, it said.

The MEA said the ministers agreed to intensify efforts towards further enhancing the multifaceted India-Nepal partnership to take it to "new heights" and exchanged views on regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest.

Jaishankar described his talks with Khanal as "productive" and said the detailed discussions on the "unique" India-Nepal partnership covered development cooperation, connectivity, energy, education, health, capacity building, culture and sports.

"Reiterated India's commitment to work with Nepal for mutual progress, prosperity and well-being of our peoples," he said on social media.

In his opening remarks at the meeting, the external affairs minister delved into various facets of the close bilateral relations between the two sides.

"India and Nepal share a very special relationship, one which is built on a strong foundation of vibrant people-to-people ties, cross-border connect and shared cultural and religious traditions," he said.

"It is anchored by shared trust, goodwill, and mutual benefit. And our bilateral ties have steadily developed in areas like trade, commerce, investments, energy, development cooperation, education, disaster response, and culture," he added.

The external affairs minister said there is an opportunity to also take forward the ties in newer domains like startups, artificial intelligence, information technology and renewable energy.

"There are strong complementarities between the objectives outlined by your government and the initiatives that India has taken in the neighbourhood," he said.

"I want today to very clearly and strongly send a message of collaboration and cooperation. We believe that today there is an opportunity to decisively shift the trajectory of India-Nepal relations and to realise the full potential of our ties," he noted.

Jaishankar said both sides collaborate closely to maintain security "along our long and uniquely open border." "Our two countries have always stood by each other in times of need. In the wake of the ongoing crisis in West Asia, we have ensured uninterrupted fuel supplies to Nepal," he said.

Late last month, the Nepalese prime minister sought involvement of China and the United Kingdom to address the long-standing border dispute between India and Nepal.

Days later, New Delhi categorically rejected any role for third parties to resolve the boundary row, saying the two countries have an established bilateral mechanism to deal with all aspects of the border issue.

At the end of the Jaishankar-Khanal talks, an agreement was formed up between Digital India Bhashini and Kathmandu University for co-creating National Digital Infrastructure for a 'Voice First' language translation platform for Nepal.

"Nepal is a priority partner of India under its 'Neighbourhood First' policy and the visit (of Khanal) reinforced the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between the two close and friendly neighbours," the MEA said in a statement.

"It provided an opportunity to exchange views on enhancing the bilateral partnership to fulfill the aspirations of peoples from both countries, and has imparted fresh vigour to our efforts towards this objective," it said.
 

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