India and Nepal will together strive to take their bilateral ties to “Himalayan heights” and resolve all issues, including boundary issues, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Thursday after meeting his Nepal counterpart Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’. “We will continue to strive to take our relationship to Himalayan heights. And in this spirit, we will resolve all the issues, be it boundary-related or any other issue,” Modi said in a statement in the presence of Prachanda after their bilateral talks in Delhi. The Nepal Prime Minister, who is on a four-day visit to India, also mentioned resolving the “boundary matter”. “Prime Minister Modiji and I discussed the boundary matter. I urged PM Narendra Modiji to resolve the boundary matter through the established bilateral diplomatic mechanism,” Prachanda said in his remarks. The two sides also discussed “wider developments in the region”, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra told mediapersons at a briefing later when he was asked if China was discussed. “When it came to discussions of the wider developments in the region, naturally the two Prime Ministers discussed other developments in the region, what challenges they pose to our bilateral cooperation… and how exactly India and Nepal should cooperate to mitigate those challenges,” he said. Taking forward their cooperation in the power sector, the two countries decided that India will import 10,000 megawatts of power from Nepal in the next 10 years under a new long-term power trade agreement. In 2014, Modi had described the India-Nepal relationship as “HIT” or Highways, I-ways and Trans-ways. “Today we have taken many significant decisions to turn our partnership into a superhit,” Modi said. The two sides signed seven agreements to boost cooperation in several areas including trade and energy. The two leaders virtually inaugurated integrated check posts at Rupaidiha in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh and Nepalgunj in Nepal. They also flagged off a cargo train from Bathnaha in Bihar to the Nepal Custom Yard. “To further strengthen cultural and religious ties, PM Prachanda and I decided that projects related to the Ramayana circuit should be expedited,” Modi said. The two countries signed the Treaty of Transit. Under its ambit, the two sides will construct new railway routes with Nepal as well as inland waterways, Modi said. The two sides also decided that Nepal railway officials will be trained by Indian Railways. The two sides signed six other MoUs/agreements pertaining to cooperation in sectors like petroleum, hydro power, cross-border digital payments and others. This is Prachanda’s first bilateral visit abroad since assuming office in December 2022 – his third premiership. He is due to visit Indore and Ujjain before heading back to Kathmandu on Saturday.
