Although the visit of Foreign Secretary Madan Kumar Bhattarai was said to prepare ground for the prime minister´s intended visit, no date for the visit was fixed during talks Thursday.[break]
Nepali ambassador to India, Rukma Shumsher Rana, who was present during the talks said, “Among many topics, the visit of the prime minister was discussed during the talks and both sides agreed to work out a timetable suitable to both the countries.”
Bhattarai reached New Delhi four days ago on the invitation of his counterpart Nirupama Rao during the latter’s visit to Nepal in January. However, the official talk was held only on Thursday.
“All high level exchange visits were discussed during the meeting,” Bhattarai told Republica after the talks. He refrained from commenting on the prime minister’s visit plan further.
India’s Foreign Minister S M Krishna during his Kathmandu visit from April 20 to 22 had re-extended Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s invitation to Khanal.
Stating that a whole gamut of bilateral issues was discussed with the Indian side, Bhattarai said, “A review of all bilateral framework on different sectors was taken up during the meeting and we agreed to strengthen all bilateral mechanisms.”
In this connection, the two sides have decided to hold a home-secretary level meeting next month in New Delhi.
The two sides also decided to expedite the meeting of inter-governmental commerce secretary talks and the much-delayed water resources (NCWR) talks.
Similarly, Bhattarai informed that discussions were held on the twin issues of line of credit and treaty on double-tax avoidance, which are already approved by the Nepali cabinet.
On the international front, the two sides discussed the role played by Nepal in the UN peacekeeping missions around the world.
“Since India now has a non-permanent member seat in the UN Security Council, we discussed the PKOs undertaken by Nepal.”
Likewise, India and Nepal will work closely on the issue of climate change and the threat posed by the global warming in the region, Bhattarai said. Climate Change is an issue pursued with priority by SAARC as well, which is working for close cooperation among the member states on the matter.
Bhattarai was accompanied by Hari Kumar Shrestha, South Asia and India Division chief at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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