A new beginning with Nepal

A new beginning with Nepal

Context

From all accounts, the Nepali PM’s visit went well but it will take pragmatism and patient nurturing on both sides to restore the trust and confidence

Shift in Nepal

PM of Nepal is shrewd enough to realise that his campaign rhetoric of Nepali nationalism with overt shades of anti-Indianism needed to be modified, and by observing the tradition of visiting Delhi, he was signalling the shift

Rethink in Delhi too

• There is a realisation in Delhi that cultural and historical ties between the people in both countries are important but just as for India, globalisation offers new openings to Nepal too.
• China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative offers Nepal an option that may end up carrying unacceptable baggage but at least appears attractive at first.

Slow pace of project implementation

Integrated Check Posts (ICP)

• The idea of four Integrated Check Posts (ICP) on the India-Nepal border to facilitate movement of goods, vehicles and people was mooted 15 years ago and an MOU signed in 2005.
• While preparation of surveys and project reports moved slowly on the Indian side, acquisition of land by the Nepali authorities got held up leading to delayed construction.

Result: Only the Raxaul-Birgunj ICP has been completed and was inaugurated last week. During this time, the cost of the project went up fourfold

Motihari-Amlekhgunj cross-border petroleum products pipeline

• A project for which the MOU between the two governments was signed in 2004.
• It took another three years for the Indian Oil Corporation and the Nepal Oil Corporation to sign the follow-up MOU, eight years to convert it into an agreement and three more to begin the works
• Its implementation within the 30-month timeframe will require proper project monitoring by both sides.

Hydel sector lagging behind

• Misperceptions about the unequal agreements relating to the Kosi barrage (1954) and Gandak barrage (1959) have grown over the years preventing any development in this sector
• Nepal’s installed hydel capacity is less than 700 MW while it sits on a hydel potential of over 80,000 MW and has to import electricity from India during the lean season

Way forward: Effective delivery in the pending projects

• What is now needed is effective delivery on the pending projects, the remaining ICPs, the five railway connections, postal road network in the Terai and the petroleum pipeline so that connectivity is enhanced and the idea of ‘inclusive development and prosperity’ assumes reality.