KATHMANDU: Nepal and India have agreed to further deepen and broaden their bilateral relationship through development partnerships, enhanced connectivity, and strong cooperation in priority areas of mutual benefit.
During bilateral talks between Minister for Foreign Affairs Shisir Khanal and his Indian counterpart Dr. S. Jaishankar in New Delhi on Saturday, the two ministers reviewed progress on various ongoing bilateral projects and cooperation initiatives and exchanged views on ways to accelerate their implementation.
They also discussed regional and international issues of mutual concern, including cooperation within multilateral forums, according to the Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi.
The Embassy stated that the two ministers made joint announcements on the operationalisation of peer-to-peer (P2P) cross-border payment transactions under the MoU between NCHL and NPCI signed in June 2023; the handover of 72 health sector and 12 cultural sector post-earthquake reconstruction projects in Nepal built with India’s development assistance; and an MoU exchange between Kathmandu University School of Engineering’s Centre for Digital Public Infrastructure and Artificial Intelligence and the Digital India Bhashini Division for co-creating national digital infrastructure for a “voice-first” language translation platform.
During the meeting, the two ministers held wide-ranging and productive discussions on Nepal–India bilateral relations.
The discussions covered trade and economic cooperation, cross-border connectivity, energy partnership, water resources management, and the promotion of people-to-people ties, including through sports. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening the enduring partnership between the two neighbouring countries.
Minister Khanal is scheduled to return home on Sunday.
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