Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The Nepal-India foreign secretary-level bilateral meeting concluded in Kathmandu on Wednesday after reviewing various issues of mutual interest and cooperation.
Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai and his Indian counterpart Vikram Misri led their respective delegations in the meeting.
This was the first foreign secretary-level meeting between the two countries since the formation of the current government in Nepal. A similar meeting had been planned earlier but was postponed due to scheduling and other reasons.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two sides discussed various issues aimed at further strengthening the close and friendly relations between Nepal and India and making their partnership more productive.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lok Bahadur Paudel Chhetri said the discussions covered preparations for upcoming high-level visits, expansion and strengthening of connectivity through air, rail, road and bridge infrastructure, and promotion and facilitation of bilateral trade.
The two sides also discussed making development cooperation more effective, expanding and strengthening existing cooperation in the energy sector, and deepening people-to-people ties and contacts between the two countries.
“The discussions covered high-level visits, energy trade, infrastructure development, connectivity and ways to advance the economic partnership between Nepal and India,” he said.
Officials said Nepal proposed an economic assistance package worth more than $2 billion to India during the meeting. The proposal includes concessional loans, grants and assistance for development infrastructure. Discussions on the package were deferred for further consideration during Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s proposed visit to India.
The Nepali side also sought India’s assistance in rebuilding infrastructure damaged by the Bhotekoshi floods. Misri acknowledged that the disaster had caused extensive damage to Nepal’s infrastructure and said India was ready to support reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts.
“The floods in Bhotekoshi and the difficult circumstances that followed provided an opportunity to demonstrate the Nepal-India relationship in practice. India extended assistance. However, we understand that the disaster caused extensive damage and destruction to Nepal’s infrastructure,” Misri said. “India is ready to consider proposals for necessary assistance or projects for reconstruction and rehabilitation.”
Nepal has prepared a proposal seeking $500 million in grant assistance from India for post-flood reconstruction. The proposed grant, intended to support the reconstruction and rehabilitation of infrastructure damaged by the Bhotekoshi floods, is an important component of the economic assistance package Nepal has proposed.
The package includes more than $1 billion in concessional loans and an additional $500 million in grants for upgrading the Siddhartha Highway. This would take the total proposed package to more than $2 billion. However, India has yet to give its final approval to these proposals.
According to the foreign ministry, the foreign secretary-level talks also covered exchanges of high-level visits, trade, development cooperation, energy, connectivity and the expansion of people-to-people relations. Both sides exchanged views on making bilateral cooperation more effective and ensuring that existing partnerships deliver tangible results.
In a separate meeting, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Biraj Bhakta Shrestha and Misri held discussions on expanding electricity trade, expediting the implementation of hydropower projects under construction and improving disaster early warning systems.
Minister Shrestha urged India to facilitate the timely completion of hydropower projects in Nepal, expand the scope of electricity trade between the two countries and encourage investment by the Indian private sector. In response, Misri said India was ready to cooperate with Nepal in the energy sector.
Nepal wants to advance several hydropower projects through cooperation with India, including West Seti, Seti River-6 and Phukot Karnali. Expanding cross-border transmission lines and exploring the possibility of exporting electricity to third countries through the Indian market are also among Nepal’s priorities.
Misri is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Shah on Thursday. During the meeting, he is expected to formally convey an invitation from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to for India visit.
