KATHMANDU: Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Rekha Sharma said India was positive to reduce the tariff charged for making telephone calls from India to Nepal.

Minister Sharma said she held discussions to resolve the problems faced by Nepalis in India.

“Larger numbers of Nepalis are living in India in different contexts. There is a huge disparity in telephone tariff between Nepal and India”, the Communications Minister commented.

The minister further shared she raised this issue seriously urging the Indian government to reduce the tariff charges for making telephone calls at least in ‘reciprocal’ way, stating that the Indian side had taken it in a positive way.

Minister Sharma said she drew attention to the fact that Indian television channels are easily broadcast in Nepal but it is difficult for Nepali TV channels to be aired in India.

It is also not possible to downlink the Nepali TV channels in India due to high charges.

“Considering the huge Nepali-speaking population in India, I make a special request to facilitate the transmission of Nepali TV channels in India,” she shared.

The Communications Minister further said that an understanding was reached between Radio Nepal and Prasar Bharati to implement the past agreement of exchanging programs.