Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart KP Sharma Oli laid the foundation stone of the Arun-III hydroelectricity project from Kathmandu on Friday and agreed on a series of matters for the furtherance of the relation between India and Nepal.
“In a historic development, Prime Minister Oli and I had the honour of laying the foundation stone of the Arun-III project. This project manifests the strong bond between India and Nepal. It is a project which will have a transformative impact on Nepal’s growth trajectory,” the PM said.
The PM, who began his two-day tour of the Himalayan nation from Janakpur, expressed confidence in a strong future of both India and Nepal. Referring to the 2015 Madhesi crisis which brought relations between the two countries to a low, the PM reportedly said that all misunderstandings with Nepal are over.
In Janakpur, the PM joined Oli to flag off a bus service from the birthplace of Goddess Sita to Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Ram. New Delhi also announced Rs 100-crore aid to develop Janakpur.
“I come to Nepal during a memorable period in the nation’s journey. Nepal has successfully conducted elections at the federal, provincial as well as local levels. This will certainly lead to effective fulfilment of the aspirations of Nepal’s citizens,” the PM stressed after delegation-level talks with Oli in Kathmandu.
Stressing that the recent election and its outcome would be written in golden words in Nepal’s history, the Indian Prime Minister said ties between India and Nepal are special and “I am visiting at a special time”.
“India stands shoulder to shoulder with the people of Nepal. India-Nepal ties are above inter-governmental relations. It is more like a family,” said Modi reiterating what he stressed at a public reception in Janakpur.
Similar thoughts were echoed by PM Oli, who, during a joint address to the press, said that “relations between neighbours are different from others”.
“Neighbours have always been our top priority,” underlined Oli, who came to power on 15 February this year for a second time.
Oli said that India and Nepal agreed to address all matters by 19 September, on Nepal’s Constitution Day underlining that Kathmandu and New Delhi will take concrete measures to realise the benefits of new partnership for agriculture and connectivity by rail links and waterways.
PM Modi agreed saying, “Cooperation in boosting connectivity, through waterways and railways was actively discussed. There were also deliberations to improve trade ties.”
Modi held extensive discussions with his counterpart and senior government officials to better the bilateral ties that is all set to ‘reset’ after New Delhi’s repeated attempt to cultivate Oli-led government in Nepal in the recent months.
Meeting Oli twice in less than two months, Modi assured him that all genuine and necessary grievances of Nepal will be addressed in a time-bound manner.
“We remain committed to doing everything that we can, which furthers the economic development of Nepal,” he said.
“During my talks with PM Oli, we reviewed the full range of our bilateral ties and the ground covered since our last meeting in Delhi,” said the Indian PM referring to the visit by PM Oli to India in April.
“Cultural relations are at the core of India-Nepal friendship. PM Oli and I talked about ways to increase our cultural linkages, especially through the development of Ramayana and Buddhist tourist circuits. We want more pilgrims and tourists to visit each other’s countries,” PM Modi said.
“We are connected with Nepal through rail, water, transmission line, petroleum pipeline,” Modi told the media while adding that Nepal should not be landlocked but “land-linked”.
He also said that India and Nepal are committed to strengthen mutual strategic ties and ensure that “no unwanted element” can take advantage of the open border between the two nations.
A team of Indian experts will begin the survey for the feasibility of the rail linkages and India is also sending a team of experts to conduct feasibility survey for inland water navigation.
On the occasion, Modi also announced a gift of India-made indigenous radiotherapy machine for Bhaktapur-based cancer hospital.
Nepal and India have reached half dozen major understandings during the two-day state visit of Modi that is expected to give momentum in bilateral ties in future.
Both sides also agreed to dispatch a joint technical team to resolve the recurrent inundation problem along the Nepal-India border.
Both Prime Ministers agreed on expansion on cooperation in agriculture. The first meeting of agriculture ministers from Nepal and India would be held soon to chart out a roadmap on agriculture research and development, education and organic farming.
Earlier in the day, Modi offered prayers at the Janaki temple in Janakpur and highlighted the ancient ties between India and Nepal.
Read More: Ayodhya is incomplete without Janaki, says PM Modi referring to India-Nepal
At a reception held in his honour, Modi said that Ayodhya is incomplete without Janaki, a reference to India-Nepal relations.