The first ever passenger rail link between India and Nepal was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the visiting Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba of Nepal on Saturday.

Both sides finalised four pacts to expand ties in areas such as railways, and energy. These were related to Nepal joining the International Solar Alliance;  MoU on enhancing Technical Cooperation in the Railway Sector; Agreement on Supply of Petroleum Products between IOC and NOC; and Agreement for sharing of Technical Expertise between IOC and NOC.

In the morning at a joint press meet, Prime Minister Modi said “We have agreed to give more priority to cross border connectivity initiatives in all aspects as well as trade. And the railway line is one such initiative.” He also reiterated India’s support in the development, peace and prosperity of the Himalayan nation.

The focus of the visit was on a wide range of bilateral issues including border dispute, power, connectivity, people to people links, health sector, energy, trade cooperation and development and economic partnership.

Accompanied by his wife Dr Arzu Deuba and a high-level delegation, Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, arrived in New Delhi on Friday for his three-day visit to India. This is his fifth visit to India, since assuming office in July 2021. On Friday he had visited the Headquarters of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and had also met with the external affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar.

The visit of the Nepal PM comes close on the heels of the recently concluded unannounced visit by the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Railway Line

This 35 km long cross border rail link is between Jaynagar in Bihar and Kurtha in Nepal to improve ties between the two nations.  Sources have confirmed to Financial Express that the train which has a capacity of 1000 approx passengers with seating 300 and standing 700, for the inaugural run is proposed to be run at the average speed of 40 kmph. And it will take around one hour to reach Janakpur/ Kurtha. With the assistance of KRCL and IRCON, this train will be operated by Nepal Railway Company (NRC), with assistance of KRCL and IRCON.

Importance of this line

With the total length of 68.72 km, the Jaynagar-Kurtha section is part of the Jayanagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas rail link and is being constructed with grant assistance of Rs 548 crore from the government of India and M/s IRCON is the executing agency.

Around 3 kms of this 35 km rail section lies in Bihar and the rest is in Nepal. The section consists of 8 stations —  Jaynagar in India, Inarwa which is the border station, and religiously significant Khajuri, Mahinathpur, Baidehi, Parwaha, Janakpur and Kurtha in Nepal.

Briefing the media persons at the end of bilateral talks between the leaders of the two countries, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said “With the inauguration of a cross-border rail link between the two countries, a long standing demand of the people of India and Nepal has been fulfilled.”

Terming it as a historic day, the foreign secretary said that the first cross border broad gauge rail link will connect both the countries via rail in addition to road and air links.

The railway line which was inaugurated today was earlier built by the British and was a narrow gauge line and was used to transport logs from Nepal. This line has been reconstructed under a grant given by the government of India.

Power Sector Cooperation

A joint vision statement on the power sector cooperation launched at the end of talks between the two leaders, states Indian investment into Nepal’s renewable power sector, especially in the Hydropower sector will benefit both sides and strengthen economies. It will help in creating jobs, enhance export earnings, and contribute further in the development of industrial and financial capacities.

According to the document, the government of Nepal has invited the Indian companies to invest in the construction and development and operation of renewable power projects especially in the Hydropower sector. The document states through mutual beneficial partnerships the companies can participate in storage type projects.

Visit to Varanasi

On Sunday the visiting PM will be leaving for Varanasi to visit the Vishwanath temple and he will be accompanied by the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath.

More about the meeting today

Both leaders during talks the Kalapani border dispute came up. Addressing the media at the end of talks, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba in New Delhi “The boundary issue was discussed and I urged Modiji to resolve it through the establishment of a bilateral mechanism.”

As has been reported earlier, the Kalapani boundary issue erupted in November 2019 after the revised political map of India depicted the triangular area of Kalapani-Lipulekh-Limpiadora within the territory of Uttarakhand. In response to this, the Himalayan nation had placed a revised map of the country in the national insignia of Nepal. This issue has yet to be discussed under a mechanism which will be led by the foreign secretaries of both sides.

The two leaders talked about joint efforts to control illegal activities along the borders between the two countries and to undertake measures to further strengthen the security situation along the borders.

Hand-over of Solu corridor transmission project

This Solu Corridor 132 kV power transmission line and substation is one of the major projects in Nepal undertaken under Line of Credit from India. And it is around 90 km 132 kV Double Circuit line with a project cost of Rs 200 crore. Executed by an Indian company, Mohan Energy, under EPC model, this line connects the remote Okhaldhunga, Solukhumbu, and Khotang districts of North Eastern Nepal with Nepal’s national electricity grid. Once it gets operational it will evacuate electricity from existing and upcoming hydro projects in the area and supply power in rural electrification networks of these districts.

Launch of Rupay in Nepal

Rupay cords have become functional on all Nepal SBI Bank (NSBL), a subsidiary of SBI and Nepal’s largest international bank,POS machines in that country, located at religious sites like Janakpur, Manakamna, Pashupatinath,  and Lumbini.

This is one big milestone in bilateral financial connectivity between the two countries and it will further deepen tourist flows, people to people linkages and uplift its payment ecosystem capabilities. Singapore, Bhutan and UAE have RuPay.

IOC & NOC

Both countries renewed Agreement for Supply of Petroleum Products for a period of five years between Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL) and Nepal Oil Corporation Ltd. (NOC) and it will now be valid until 2027. It is in the form of an umbrella agreement and it will enable IOCL to supply petroleum products to NOC. This will include supply through Motihari-Amlekhgunj pipeline which was commissioned in July 2019.