Nepal’s Foreign Minister Rana meets Indian PM Modi
Kathmandu– Nepal’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Arzu Rana Deuba who is currently on the official visit of India met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 19, 2024. A brief press note issued by Rana’s secretariat does not mention anything about the content of the meeting.
Soon after the meeting with Modi, Rana in her X post said: ‘Had a courtesy meeting with Prime Minister of Nepal Narendra Modi today in New Delhi. We discussed the multifaceted diversity of Nepal-India relations. I hope this visit and our high-level meetings will elevate the historical ties between our two countries to new heights. I also handed over an invitation from Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to PM Modiji for a state visit to Nepal. Earlier on the same day, Rana met with her Indian Counterpart S Jaishankar to discuss the bilateral issues.’
A statement issued by India’s Ministry of External Affairs said: “The Foreign Ministers held bilateral talks on 19 August, covering the full range of the India-Nepal bilateral partnership. The Foreign Ministers reviewed the progress made in various bilateral initiatives and developmental projects and also discussed opportunities for further collaboration in the existing and new areas of mutually beneficial cooperation.”
India and Nepal are close and friendly neighbours with deep historical, civilizational, cultural, and people to people linkages, the statement further says, there has been sustained momentum in the recent years in the implementation of India assisted projects in Nepal, which is especially manifested in the fields of connectivity – physical, digital as well as people to people, including in the infrastructure and other projects related to cross-border railways, roads and bridges, Integrated Check Posts, petroleum pipelines, and digital financial connectivity.
The two sides also noted the progress made in the mutually beneficial partnership in the field of power sector cooperation, where Nepal can now export electricity close to 1000 MW, creating additional source of revenue for Nepal and clean energy for India. In this connection, both Foreign Ministers noted the unprecedented opportunities in the power sector cooperation that would be available on implementation of the Long Term Power Trade Agreement. Noting that sports is emerging as another area of cooperation between India and Nepal, the recent facilitation of providing training for the Nepali cricket team at the National Cricket Academy, Bengaluru was also welcomed, according to the statement.
