A cabinet meeting held at the prime minister's resident in Baluwatar on Wednesday decided to form a four-member EPG to review all the bilateral treaties and agreements between Nepal and India that have been deemed 'unequal'. The EPG has been tasked with making necessary recommendations to the government for amendment in the changed contexts.
The cabinet took the decision in line with the agreement reached between former Minister for Foreign Affairs Mahendra Bahadur Pandey and Indian Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj during the joint commission meeting of Nepal and Indian held in Kathmandu in July, 2014 to form the EPG in both sides.
Minister for Information and Communications Sher Dhan Rai, who is also the spokesperson of the government, said that the cabinet formed the EPG with the aim to strengthen Nepal-India relations.
He said that former foreign minister Bekh Bahadur Thapa, former chief commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation and Abuse of Authority Surya Nath Upadhyaya, former Constituent Assembly member Nilamber Acharya and CPN-UML lawmaker Rajan Bhattarai have been appointed as members of the EPG.
The EPG, which will have two-year term, will recommend necessary amendments required in all the bilateral treaties including the Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1950 between Nepal and India, said Gopal Khanal, foreign affairs advisor to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
The cabinet meeting held last week had discussed on forming the EPG group but could not take any formal decision regarding its formation. The government had not been able to form the group even after one and a half years of the agreement reached during the joint commission meeting due to political wrangling between the major parties of Nepal.
The formation of the EPG has come at a time when the government is making preparations for the prime minister's India visit which is likely to happen any time next month.
Meanwhile, the cabinet accepted resignation of secretary of Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Bhes Raj Sharma and appointed him as vice-president of Nepal Law Commission.
Similarly, the cabinet also transferred secretary of the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers Prem Kumar Rai to Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, secretary of Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya to Ministry of Information and Communications.
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