New Delhi: The open borders of India and Nepal should not be misused by unwanted elements, said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday during his statement after delegation level meeting with Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.
Both the leaders also discussed various aspects of cooperation, reviewed the progress of various projects and also discussed the blueprint for the future.
“Today we also discussed that the open borders of India and Nepal should not be misused by unwanted elements. We also stressed on maintaining close cooperation between our defence and security institutions. I am sure that our talks today will go a long way in setting ambitious goals for the future of India-Nepal relations,” Modi said.
In 2020, India and Nepal had a strained bilateral relationship over border row between the two countries. China which already had made aggression towards India at the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh region was making all efforts to amplify the row between India and Nepal relations.
Later, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said in a press briefing that Modi and Deuba held wide-ranging talks., “There was a general understanding that both sides needed to address this (border issue) in a responsible manner through discussion and dialogue in the spirit of our close and friendly relations and politicisation of such issues need to be avoided,” Shringla said.
Saying that the security-related issues such as the border dispute were discussed briefly, Shringla said, “essentially there was a sense that it (the boundary issue) should be addressed through discussion and dialogue.”
Further elaborating on the boundary question, the Foreign Secretary said, “between any two countries there are a number of issues that are always outstanding... I think what is important between two close and friendly neighbours is that you have the ability to sit down and discuss and sort out these issues in a manner that is satisfactory to both sides.”
Map-triggered tensions
“We have sorted land and maritime boundary issues with Bangladesh. Similarly, there is a mechanism to resolve this. We have no doubt we will find a way to sort out these issues,” the Foreign Secretary added.
Tensions between New Delhi and Kathmandu arose last year after the issuance of the revised political map by Nepal as India had included the tri-junction in its map issued in November 2019.
Diplomatic ties between the nations worsened after the inauguration of a road linking Kailash Mansarovar via Lipulekh on May 8, 2020, after which Nepal handed over a diplomatic note to India objecting to the move.
New Delhi had called Nepal’s move a “unilateral act” and cautioned Kathmandu that such “artificial enlargement” of territorial claims will not be acceptable to it.
Foreign Secretary Shringla also elaborated on the other aspects of the discussion between the countries, as well as the significance of the ongoing visit.
“He arrived yesterday, this is his first bilateral visit abroad since he assumed the office of PM in July last year. This is PM Deuba’s landmark 5th visit to India in his capacity as PM. He had visited India in each of his previous terms with his last such visit taking place in August 2017,” Shringla said.
“Our relations with Nepal occupy a very special place in our Neighbourhood First policy... It is a unique relationship, characterised by open borders, people-to-people of kinship and culture which have very few parallels in the world,” he added.
On the cooperation between the two countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, Shringla informed that the Nepal PM thanked India for the support extended during the pandemic.
“PM Deuba thanked India for standing by Nepal during the COVID pandemic and supporting the country with the supply of essential vaccines, liquid medical oxygen, medicines and equipment... He also appreciated efforts to keep the bilateral ties and supply chains running unhindered during the hype of the pandemic,” Foreign Secretary said.
The visit of PM Deuba led to several positive outcomes in the bilateral cooperation between the two countries including cooperation in the power sector, the Launch of the RuPay card in Nepal, technical cooperation in railways including the launch of the first cross-border passenger train service between India’s Jayanagar and Nepal’s Kurtha, and Nepal joining the International Solar Alliance, Foreign Secretary said.
Yesterday, Nepal Prime Minister met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla in the national capital.
