Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba are expected to jointly inaugurate the much-awaited 35 km long transboundary Janakpur-Jayanagar railway service between the two countries. The inauguration of the project will take place virtually.
The rail link covers five stations– Jayanagar, Inarwa, Khajuri, Baidehi and Kurtha. The project has been funded almost entirely by India.
Deuba's three day trip to India that accounts for more than 64 per cent of Nepal’s overall trade volume, just after Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi's visit to New Delhi and Kathmandu has stirred up unprecedented curiosity.
Foreign policy watchers said the visit assumes significance for its timing. “Though Deuba was to visit India much earlier, his India trip will be carefully watched as it will be undertaken within days of Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s trip to both countries,” one of them said.
Also read: China sees red after Nepal PM Deuba woos the United States
Deuba was earlier scheduled to visit India in January. But the trip had to be cancelled due to the surge in Covid 19 cases. This is Deuba’s second official overseas trip. In November, he travelled to Glasgow to participate in the UN climate conference.
Sources said that issues relating to the border, connectivity, trade and energy cooperation are set to be taken up during the visit. Deuba, accompanied by a high level delegation, will hold a meeting with Modi on April 2. A host of other agreements will also be inked during this visit.
“All of our concerns and issues will be taken up during the visit,” the Kathmandu Post quoted former foreign minister Prakash Sharan Mahat, who is also spokesperson for Nepali Congress as saying.
Soon after Deuba took over as the Prime Minister of the country in July, Bhaskar Koirala, Director of the Nepal Institute of International and Strategic Studies told India Narrative in an emailed interview that it must be emphasised that India-Nepal relations are unique primarily because of the 1800 kilometres long open border shared by the two nations.
“PM Deuba would do well to stress how it is that this unique feature of the Indo-Nepal relationship, can be a force multiplier for sustainable socio-economic growth,” Koirala said.
Sources said that amid the rapidly changing geopolitical contours driven by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the South Asian nations are looking to expedite the Bangladesh-Bhutan-India Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) project that will boosting connectivity. The BBIN project is being perceived as a game changer for economic growth in the region.
At present, a chunk of Nepal’s trade—both imports and exports – are routed through the Haldia and Vishakhapatnam ports. Sources added that India is expected to open up more ports for Nepal.
Nepal is dependent heavily on India for access to ports though Kathmandu has also been granted access to Chinese ports now.
“Nepal, under this government will be interested in maintaining good relations with all its neighbours. Nepal needs Beijing and China has been a good neighbour to us but India will remain special, China cannot replace India,” Udaya Shumsher Rana, former minister of state for finance and a member of Nepali Congress, who is also part of the delegation earlier told India Narrative.
