Prime Minister of Nepal seeks mechanism to resolve India-Nepal border dispute

What is the News? 

The Prime Minister of Nepal visited India and held a summit meeting with the Indian Prime Minister.

What are the key highlights from the Nepal PM visit to India?

Launch of Cross-border railway line: India and Nepal launched the 35-km cross-border railway line linking Jaynagar in Bihar to Kurtha in Nepal. This is the first broad-gauge passenger rail link between the two sides and it will be extended to Bardibas in Nepal.

Solu Corridor: India handed over the Solu Corridor, a 90-km, 132 kV power transmission line built under an Indian line of credit. The line will help bring electricity to several remote districts in northeastern Nepal by connecting them to the country’s national grid.

Launch of RuPay card in Nepal: India launched RuPay card in Nepal. With this, domestic variant of the RuPay card will now work at 1,400 point-of-sale machines in Nepal, and the move is expected to facilitate bilateral tourist flows.

Note: Nepal is the fourth country, after Bhutan, Singapore and the UAE, where RuPay has been launched.

Nepal as member of International Solar Alliance: Nepal signed a framework agreement to join the India-led International Solar Alliance (becoming the 105th member country).

Pancheshwar Multipurpose Dam Project: The two sides agreed to expedite work on the delayed Pancheshwar multipurpose dam project (on Mahakali river) that is considered to be a gamechanger for the development of the region.

Border Dispute: Nepalese Prime Minister urged his Indian counterpart to take steps to resolve a boundary dispute. The Indian side made it clear both countries need to address the boundary issue through dialogue and to avoid the politicization of such issues.

Source: This post is based on the article “Prime Minister of Nepal seeks mechanism to resolve India-Nepal border dispute” published in The Hindu on 2nd April 2022.