Nepal concludes talks with India on bilateral relationship

Nepal PM Sher Bahadur concludes three-day-long talks with India PM Nahrendra Modi about their bilateral relationship – Photo: REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s three-day official visit to India concludes today.

Held in New Delhi, the meeting embarks on improving the bilateral relationship between Kathmandu and New Delhi. Since 2017, this is the first time that the Prime Minister of Nepal has visited India. In 2020, Nepal published a new political map showing three Indian territories as Nepalese-controlled which strained their relationship.

Key themes of economic, border, and development cooperation were discussed by the ministers of the two countries. The inauguration and operationalization of the India-Nepal railway link and the launch of the Indian financial payment system RuPay in Nepal are expected to enhance the economic engagement and transportation between the two countries.

The meeting comes immediately after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited India and Nepal last week during his South Asia tour. Expect Beijing to actively strengthen its diplomatic ties with India’s neighbors as India reforms its economic relationship with bordering nations. The seamless operations of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)—especially in Nepal—is imperative for Beijing, and therefore, normalizing border ties with New Delhi and Kathmandu will become a priority for China.

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Simran Sharma

Simran Sharma is an Analyst and a second-year graduate student at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy concentrating on security studies and international negotiations. Prior to her degree at Fletcher, she worked in the international development space in India as a Gandhi Fellow with the Piramal Foundation. Her regional interests include the rise of China and the great power competition in South Asia with a focus on maritime issues in the Indian Ocean Region and South China Sea.