NEW DELHI, Jun 5 : Nepal Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal on Friday kicked off a three-day visit to India to strengthen bilateral ties amid a raging controversy triggered by Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s remarks on the boundary row between the two countries.
Khanal is set to hold wide-ranging talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday.
“With Nepal, we have an expansive agenda from development cooperation to people-to-people ties to trade and investment. All these issues will be discussed when the two foreign ministers meet,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
“We are keen to further strengthen this multifaceted partnership that we have with Nepal,” he said at his weekly media briefing.
It is the first to India by a minister from Shah’s government since it assumed office in March.
Late last month, Shah sought involvement of China and the United Kingdom to address the long-standing border dispute between India and Nepal.
Days later, New Delhi categorically rejected any role for third parties to resolve its boundary row with Nepal, saying the two countries have an established bilateral mechanism to deal with all aspects of the border issue.
Nepal and India have had an old boundary dispute over Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura and Kalapani. India has consistently maintained that the territories are part of Uttarakhand.
Nepal is important for India in the context of its overall strategic interests in the region, and leaders of the two countries have often noted the age-old “Roti Beti” relationship.
Land-locked Nepal relies heavily on India for the transportation of goods and services. Nepal’s access to the sea is through India, and it imports a predominant proportion of its requirements from and through India. (PTI )
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