Close on the heels of the recently concluded visit of the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Delhi and neighbouring Nepal, Prime Minister of Nepal Sher Bahadur Deuba is visiting India from April 1-3.

Top sources confirmed to Financial Express Online on Saturday “Prime Minister of Nepal Sher Bahadur Deuba will be visiting India from April 1-3. During his official visit, on April 2, he will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

This is his first official visit to India since his appointment last July and this visit is at the invitation of PM Modi. However, he has visited India at least four times as PM earlier. Both leaders had met last year in Glasgow on the sidelines of the UN Climate Conference. The Nepalese leader was expected to be here in India earlier this year to attend Vibrant Gujarat. However due to a surge in cases of COVID-19 the event was cancelled. His last visit to India was in 2017. Besides his official engagements in New Delhi, the PM of Nepal will also be visiting Varanasi.

According to sources, the visit next week is in tradition of regular high level exchanges between the two countries.

Agenda of the visit

This visit is expected to give the two neighbours an opportunity to review the entire gamut of bilateral relations. This includes connectivity, economic and development partnership, trade, health sector, power, people to people links and issues of mutual interest.

Agreements?

There is no confirmation if any agreements will be signed. However, according to reports there are a couple of agreements including cross border railway which could be firmed up at the end of talks between the two leaders.

The Railway project

Since February this year, the Kurtha-Jayanagar railway is on a dry run since for the lack of a law to guide the operations. And the government of Nepal, according to reports, has re-issued the railway ordinance for operating the cross border shuttle.

This railway project is being reconstructed with the help from India and is likely to be inaugurated by the two leaders next week.

Also, on the table is a Memorandum of Understanding on rebuilding around 137 health posts with Indian financial assistance. This was announced by India in the aftermath of the massive earthquake in 2015.

The relations between the two countries had hit a low during PM Oli’s tenure. Thereafter several efforts were made to bring back the relations on track.

There have been a series of high level visits from India to the Himalayan nation including the visit of external affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar who had gone there in 2019 to take part in the fifth Nepal-India Joint Commission meeting.

In 2020, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla went to Kathmandu on an introductory visit.

However, due to infighting in the then ruling party Nepal Communist Party (NCP) led by Oli, a political crisis was triggered. He was however ousted when the Parliament was dissolved twice in that country.

The two leaders during the meeting later next week are also expected to address certain issues that have been bothering both sides.

Issues of concern

As has been reported extensively, the decision of the Oli government to issue a new map of his country was not taken well in India. The new map depicts Lipulekh, Kalapani, and Limpiyadhura within the Nepali territory. This has not been accepted by India.

Nepal has expressed its concern over a road built by India via Lipulekh to Mansorvar in Tibet, as it is a tri-junction between three countries.