PM Oli says visit to focus on removing misunderstandings

KATHMANDU, Feb 16: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has informed parliament that he wants to focus his upcoming India visit on improving the bilateral relations, which have soured in recent months.

Oli is leaving on a six-day official visit to the southern neighbor starting February 19, at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“We want to end the state of misunderstanding between the two sides. We don’t want to remain entangled in feelings of displeasure that we have experienced in the past,” said Oli, addressing the House meeting on Tuesday. “We have to take relations ahead on the basis of a new trust, new environment, mutual benefit and cooperation.”
Stating that there were so many grounds to inspire and compel Nepal and India to work together for prosperity in both countries, Oli said he would hold talks at the highest political levels in that same spirit.
He said the Nepal side has already taken various initiatives to remove misunderstandings between the two sides. “I have thought to go to India to remove such misunderstandings in all forms and to improve the bilateral relations on the basis of mutual benefit, our needs and the ground realities, and to take initiatives for elevating these relations to a new high,” he said.
He said Nepal has remained steadfast in its international relations as per its policies of peaceful co-existence, mutual benefit and mutual respect. “The foreign policy of every country is interrelated with its national interests, sovereignty, security and dignity,” he explained. “From this visit, we want to ensure that there will be no misunderstandings between Nepal and India because we have a long history of friendship based on nature, culture and social and economic realities.”
He pointed out that the bilateral relations may have some aspects that need correction in view of the changed context, thinking and needs. “We will move ahead in that spirit,” he said.

Will form political
committee before visit
Stating that the outside world has been watching developments in Nepal, Oli said the government was working as per its previous announcement to amend the constitution and form a political committee to resolve disputes over provincial boundaries. “The political committee would recommend suggestions to resolve boundary disputes within a period of three months and the boundaries can also be changed on the basis of the recommendations. The government has already taken necessary formal decisions to this effect,” he said. “I wish to say that the political committee will be formed before my leaving for India.”
He also informed the lawmakers that he would be visiting some big development projects in India such as the Tehri Dam in Uttarahakhand, and observing development activities in Modi’s home state of Gujarat.
Besides holding talks at the top political levels, he said he would meet representatives from business and intellectuals with a view to attracting foreign investments in different modalities. “It can be government to government, between commercial organizations or exclusively about foreign investments,” he said adding that investment will be encouraged in various modalities because “we want to expedite work on infrastructure development, roads, drinking water, health and the education sector”.
He will hold talks on investment, making it clear that there will be a favorable environment for investment based on mutual benefit, he said.
Meanwhile, a cabinet meeting later in the evening endorsed a 46-member team for the prime minister’s visit to India.
The visiting team includes Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa, Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel and Home Minister Shakti Basnet.
Oli’s visit comes at a time when Nepal-India relations have soured following India’s blockade along the Nepal-India border for over four months. Earlier this month, Finance Minister Poudel visited India to lay the ground for the prime minister’s visit.