Nepal’s prime minister visits India, meets Modi to deepen ties By Reuters

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© Reuters. Nepal’s Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba speaks his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi forward of their assembly at Hyderabad Home in New Delhi, India April 2, 2022. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

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By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU (Reuters) -Nepal’s Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba met his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and inaugurated the Himalayan nation’s solely railway hyperlink with its southern neighbour on Saturday in a summit meant to deepen relations.

Deuba’s first journey to India since changing into prime minister in July comes per week after a go to by Chinese language International Minister Wang Yi to Nepal.

Nepal, a pure buffer between India and China, historically balances its ties with Beijing and New Delhi as each search to woo it by pouring in help and funding for infrastructure.

After the assembly, Deuba and Modi collectively flagged off Nepal’s solely railway hyperlink between Janakpur in Nepal and the border city of Jaynagar in India.

The 35-km (22-mile) railway was reconstructed by India as a grant. It was constructed by the colonial British Indian authorities as a narrow-gauge line to move logs from Nepal.

The 2 prime ministers additionally remotely inaugurated an electrical energy transmission line that may provide hydroelectric energy generated within the Solukhumbu space, the place Mount Everest is situated, to Nepal’s nationwide energy grid.

Each nations agreed to hurry up the Pancheswar hydroelectric venture on their border in west Nepal, which Modi stated could be a “sport changer” for the event of the area.

“The friendship between India and Nepal and mutual relationship between our individuals … can’t be discovered anyplace on this planet,” Modi informed a information briefing after the assembly. “Threads of our civilization, tradition and mutual exchanges have been linked since historical occasions.”

Deuba stated Nepal’s ties with India have been “extremely essential” and Kathmandu was “keen to profit from India’s progress via a mutually helpful financial partnership.”

Nepal agreed to make use of the Indian RuPay card which might strengthen “monetary connectivity,” and promote Indian vacationer flows, India stated in a press release.

Each side additionally signed agreements that embody cooperation in railways and sharing technical experience between the Indian Oil Company and Nepal Oil Company.

Analysts stated the go to would assist additional promote the multi-faceted relations between India and Nepal.

“The go to is happening after 4 years and can assist enhance belief and understanding between the 2 nations,” Dinesh Bhattarai, a Nepali former ambassador to Geneva informed Reuters.