‘Momentary differences’: Nepal envoy for better economic ties

Acknowledging the challenges in the ties, including border and river flooding issues for which both countries tend to blame the other, he said, “Next-door neighbours generally have some kind of differences but our focus should be more towards economic integration.”

“We need to work on people-to-people relations for a longer and sustainable relationship,” he said, adding, “momentary differences happen”.

“Yes, we have challenges in terms of trade deficit, we have problems with flooding (while Indians blame Nepal for flooding, people in Nepal’s Terai region blame road construction in India for flooding, he said). We need to address this area,” said the ambassador.

“The other area (we need to work on) is the border issues. Indian authorities have said they need to address that by dialogue,” he said.

The territorial dispute between the two counties is about a 372-sq-km area that includes Limpiadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani at the India-Nepal-China trijunction in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district.

Sharma said while two-thirds of Nepal’s trade is already with India, Nepal is also one of the major trade partners for India. “Over 35% of our total investment is from India, and it has been on an upward trajectory. In terms of economic relationship, our currency is paid with Indian currency. As we move to further strengthen the economic integration, we have to work on reducing the trade deficit with India, pegged at $8 billion,” he pointed out.

Several initiatives have been taken between Nepal and India over the last two to three years, Sharma said, mentioning a greater collaboration in hydroelectricity and hydropower development in Nepal.

According to him, during summer, Nepal exports up to 1000 MW electricity to India out of 3,200 MW it is producing.

India is also presently the top source market for tourism in Nepal, making up for 30% of 1.5 million tourists the country got last year, Sharma said, acknowledging that they still need to develop their tourism products and infrastructure, and ensure greater collaboration with India on the Ramayana and Buddhist tourist circuits.

Oli’s likely meeting with Modi comes amid rising protests by pro-monarchy groups in Nepal. If they meet, it will be their second engagement at a multilateral forum; the two had earlier met in New York last September.