"Historic opportunity" to take ties with India to next level: Nepal
Kathmandu: As India makes efforts to deepen its diplomatic and economic engagement with its neighbours, Nepal on Saturday said there is a "historic opportunity" in taking bilateral ties with India to the "next level" and
Earlier on Saturday, Swaraj called on Nepal President Yadav at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in Sheetal Niwas.
She also met with senior political leaders of Nepal including UCPN-Maoist chief and leader of the main opposition Prachanda. She also met Chairman of Nepal's Constituent Assembly Subas Chandra Nembang and a number of Madhesi community leaders who apprised her about their problems.
As close neighbours, India and Nepal share a unique relationship of friendship and cooperation characterised by open borders and deep-rooted people-to-people contacts. There are six million Nepalese workers in India. Annually three thousand Nepalese are provided scholarships by India. There has been a long tradition of free movement of people across the border as Nepal shares a boundary of over 1,850 kms to the south with five Indian states.
The Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) was co-chaired by Swaraj and her Nepalese counterpart Mahendra Bahadur Pandey which largely agreed to further "reinvigorate" the relationship by stepping up engagement in new areas.
The meeting decided on setting up an Eminent Persons Group to identify new areas of cooperation and suggest measures to help both the countries seize all possible opportunities. Both the countries have agreed to the terms of reference for setting up of the group, government sources said.
The JCM also specifically deliberated on issues relating to defence and security and agreed to expand cooperation. The overall sense of the deliberation was that "security of both the countries was intertwined".
Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh and a number of top officials from Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Water Resources and Ministry of Culture were the Indian delegation.
The discussions in JCM were held in five clusters - political, security and border issues; economic co-operation and infrastructure; trade and transit; power and water resources; and culture, education and media. Swaraj co-chaired the first cluster deliberation on political, security and border issues.
Before the Joint Commission Meeting, Swaraj had a separate meeting with Nepal's Foreign Minister Pandey. At the outset, Pandey warmly greeted Swaraj and hoped that her visit will help in further cementing ties with the two countries.
Even though the JCM took place after a long period, India has 25 bilateral mechanisms with Nepal where both countries have been interacting on a regular basis.
External Affairs Minister in the previous UPA government S M Krishna had visited Nepal in January 2010 and again in April 2011. Then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had visited Nepal in November 2011.
The India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1950 is the bedrock of the special relations between the two nations. Under the provisions of the treaty, Nepalese citizens have enjoyed unparallelled advantages in India, availing the facilities and opportunities on par with Indian citizens.
The treaty enabled Nepal to overcome the disadvantages of being a landlocked country. Overtime, many regimes in Nepal have raised the issue of revision of the treaty. India has maintained that it is willing to examine all bilateral arrangements with a view to further strengthening relations.
India contributes to the development efforts of Nepal by undertaking various projects in the areas of infrastructure, health, rural and community development and education. India continues to be Nepal's largest trade partner, source of foreign investment and tourist arrivals.
At present the annual bilateral trade is about USD 4.7 billion and India accounts for 47 per cent of FDI in Nepal.
She also met with senior political leaders of Nepal including UCPN-Maoist chief and leader of the main opposition Prachanda. She also met Chairman of Nepal's Constituent Assembly Subas Chandra Nembang and a number of Madhesi community leaders who apprised her about their problems.
As close neighbours, India and Nepal share a unique relationship of friendship and cooperation characterised by open borders and deep-rooted people-to-people contacts. There are six million Nepalese workers in India. Annually three thousand Nepalese are provided scholarships by India. There has been a long tradition of free movement of people across the border as Nepal shares a boundary of over 1,850 kms to the south with five Indian states.
The Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) was co-chaired by Swaraj and her Nepalese counterpart Mahendra Bahadur Pandey which largely agreed to further "reinvigorate" the relationship by stepping up engagement in new areas.
The meeting decided on setting up an Eminent Persons Group to identify new areas of cooperation and suggest measures to help both the countries seize all possible opportunities. Both the countries have agreed to the terms of reference for setting up of the group, government sources said.
The JCM also specifically deliberated on issues relating to defence and security and agreed to expand cooperation. The overall sense of the deliberation was that "security of both the countries was intertwined".
Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh and a number of top officials from Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Water Resources and Ministry of Culture were the Indian delegation.
The discussions in JCM were held in five clusters - political, security and border issues; economic co-operation and infrastructure; trade and transit; power and water resources; and culture, education and media. Swaraj co-chaired the first cluster deliberation on political, security and border issues.
Before the Joint Commission Meeting, Swaraj had a separate meeting with Nepal's Foreign Minister Pandey. At the outset, Pandey warmly greeted Swaraj and hoped that her visit will help in further cementing ties with the two countries.
Even though the JCM took place after a long period, India has 25 bilateral mechanisms with Nepal where both countries have been interacting on a regular basis.
External Affairs Minister in the previous UPA government S M Krishna had visited Nepal in January 2010 and again in April 2011. Then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had visited Nepal in November 2011.
The India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1950 is the bedrock of the special relations between the two nations. Under the provisions of the treaty, Nepalese citizens have enjoyed unparallelled advantages in India, availing the facilities and opportunities on par with Indian citizens.
The treaty enabled Nepal to overcome the disadvantages of being a landlocked country. Overtime, many regimes in Nepal have raised the issue of revision of the treaty. India has maintained that it is willing to examine all bilateral arrangements with a view to further strengthening relations.
India contributes to the development efforts of Nepal by undertaking various projects in the areas of infrastructure, health, rural and community development and education. India continues to be Nepal's largest trade partner, source of foreign investment and tourist arrivals.
At present the annual bilateral trade is about USD 4.7 billion and India accounts for 47 per cent of FDI in Nepal.