Jam packed agenda awaits Jaishankar in Nepal

Kathmandu, Jan 3 (IANS) A jam packed agenda awaits External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in Kathmandu as he is scheduled to arrive in the Himalayan nation on Thursday for the seventh meeting of the Nepal-India Joint Commission.

Jaishankar, who will be on a day-long visit, will co-chair the meeting with his Nepalese counterpart N.P. Saud, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kathmandu.

The meeting will review the overall state of bilateral relations and various areas of mutual cooperation, it said.

Over three dozens agendas spanning from border to boundary, trade, commerce, economic cooperation, energy, connectivity, India funded projects in Nepal to the agreements signed during the 2023 visit of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to India will also be discussed by the two sides, the Ministry said.

According to officials, at least two agreements related to long-term energy cooperation and India’s proposal to increase funds for small development projects under the High-impact Community Development Projects (HICDPs), will be signed.

During Dahal’s visit to India last summer, the two countries had agreed to sign a long-term agreement on energy, whereby New Delhi would import 10,000 megawatts from Kathmandu in 10 years.

At an event on December 22, 2023, Prime Minister Dahal had said: “We are going to sign a long-term energy deal with India soon. A mid-term and a long-term energy trading deal will be signed in Kathmandu.”

Also during Jaishankar's visit, three transmission lines of 132 KVA will be jointly inaugurated on Thursday.

They are the Raxaul-Parwanipur transmission line connecting with Bihar state of India, Kushaha-Kataiya transmission line and Nautanwa-Mainahia transmission line connecting with Uttar Pradesh.

A team from India's Ministry of Energy has arrived in Kathmandu to negotiate a medium-term and long-term energy agreement between the two nations.

The 10,000 megawatt power trade agreement is scheduled to be signed by Pankaj Agarwal, secretary of the Ministry of Energy of India, and Gopal Sigdel, secretary of the Ministry of Energy of Nepal, at the presence of the foreign ministers of both countries.

During Jaishankar’s visit, Nepal will also give its nod to the Indian offer to increase the budget for small projects to be implemented by local units.

The budget is being increased from the existing Rs 50 million per project to Rs 200 million per project

Jaishankar will conclude his trip by paying courtesy calls on President Ramchandra Paudel, Prime Minister Dahal, among other top leaders.

Saud will also host a dinner in honour of visiting dignitary and members of his delegation.