India and Nepal on Thursday inked eight pacts, including four on post-earthquake reconstruction, and inaugurated two cross-border power transmission lines in Nepal. At the end of comprehensive talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba on a wide range of issues, both leaders jointly inaugurated Katiya-Kushaha & Raxaul-Parwanipur transmission lines each of 132 KV, following delegation-level talks. These are part of six transmission lines on the border at Muzaffarpur-Dhalkepar, Kushaha-Kattaiya, Raxaul-Parwanipur, New Butwal-Gorakhpur, Nepalgunj-Lucknow and Purnea. While India assured its commitment towards overall growth and development of the Himalayan neighbour, Nepalese PM Deuba said the country would “never allow any anti-India activities on its soil”. “Cooperation in defence and security is of high priority for us,” Modi said, jointly addressing the media with his Nepalese counterpart. “Our defence interests are interdependent and linked to each other,” he added.
Modi said to keep the open border between the two countries secure and for the security of the people on both sides, cooperation between the defence agencies of the two countries was important. His comments came amid Indian and Chinese troops’ standoff along the Sikkim sector of the international border. PM Modi also congratulated Deuba for ensuring the completion of two phases of the country’s local elections successfully. Stressing cooperation in the hydropower sector, he said both sides agreed to increase efforts to complete the ongoing projects within the given time frame. While fours MoUs signed are on reconstruction of Nepal, an MoU for implementation arrangement on cost sharing, schedules and safeguard issues for construction of Mechi bridge under the Asian Development Bank’s South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) road connectivity programme (Tranche 2), funded by India was signed too. The new bridge over the Mechi river to be built at a cost of `158 crore — a preliminary pact for laying down the implementation arrangement on cost sharing, schedules and safeguard issues for starting construction — was approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday.
This is expected to improve regional connectivity between the two nations and has the potential to strengthen cross-border trade between both the countries and cementing ties by strengthening industrial, social and cultural exchanges. The new bridge is part of an upgrade of the Kakarvitta (Nepal) to Panitanki Bypass (India), covering a length of 1,500 m, including a six-lane approach road of 825 m. The Mechi Bridge is the ending point of Asian Highway 2 in India, leading to Nepal and provides critical connectivity to Nepal. India has already committed $1 billion in reconstruction aid following the 2015 earthquake in Nepal – the MoUs are for utilisation of housing grant component to support reconstruction of 50,000 houses and implementation of reconstruction packages in the education, cultural heritage and health sectors. A sixth MoU was signed on drug demand reduction and prevention of illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursor chemical and related matters. A seventh MoU was signed on cooperation between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal. The two sides also signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of standardisation and conformity assessment.