Several issues were discussed in the meeting with both sides committing to check cross border terrorism, Pillai said. While India focused on Extradition Treaty, which was signed during the secretary level talks between the two counties in 2005, Nepal was not willing to table it as an agenda. However, in the MOU that the home secretaries signed late Saturday morning, both the sides agreed to “process it at an appropriate time”, said sources.
India has long been pressing Nepal to sign the treaty amidst speculations that Nepali territory might have been used to protect anti-Indian elements. But Pillai claimed that India was not pressing Nepal for anything. He rather praised the recent crackdowns by the Nepal government on the fake currency rackets.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Indian delegates are said to have expressed concerns about possible security threats to the Common Wealth Games to be held in India in 2012 as Nepal and India shared an open border.
According to high-ranking officials who participated in the meeting, Nepal assured that it had heightened vigilance against possible cross-border threats to India. India fears that the growing number of madrasas along the bordering areas might have been used to shelter Muslim-extremists. The Indian delegates also reiterated the demand of posting air-marshal in the Tribhuvan International Airport.
Nepal expressed discontent over the Indian border security force SSB´s alleged misconduct with the Nepali citizens. India had simply responded that SSB are the paramilitary unit and would take time to develop cohesion with locals, sources said.
India held that the SSB issue should be solved locally consolidating cooperation between Border District Coordination Committees (BDCC) on both sides. For this, a pilot project is going to be implemented in Nepalgunj and the bordering Indian district of Baharaich to keep extensive records of the people in both places and act accordingly.
Meanwhile, India has agreed to build a huge training facility, which is expected to cost Rs 320 million, in Panauti, Kavre, to enhance Nepal´s capacity on border security, counter insurgency, criminal investigation and forensic investigation. According to an official, an MOU to this end would be signed in the near future.
A joint working committee to be headed by the joint-secretaries of the home ministries of both countries would conduct a meeting early next year to work on the implementation of the agreements.
Home Secretary Gobinda Kusum at the press briefing claimed that he could not take part in the Indian delegation´s meeting with Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal. According to him, the meeting discussed the overall security scenario of South Asia alongside the trans-border agendas. Next year, the meeting will take place in New Delhi, India.
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