India dubs Nepal ‘priority partner’

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 12

India today described Nepal as a ‘priority partner’ under its ‘neighbourhood first policy’. This comes after Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri concluded a two-day visit (August 11-12) to Kathmandu.

Power supply cooperation growing

• A power trade pact signed in January will allow Kathmandu to export 10,000 MW hydroelectricity to India over the next 10 years
• Nepal’s rivers, cascading from the Himalayas, have the potential to generate about 42,000 MW electricity

Misri, since he took over July 15, made his second visit in the neighbourhood — the first being to Bhutan. “The Foreign Secretary’s visit helped in advancing bilateral ties further,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

Both sides appreciated the progress made in the mutually beneficial partnership in the field of power sector cooperation, which has seen substantial progress in recent years, the MEA said. Nepal’s hydropower export to India in the past 2-3 years has increased manifold and has created additional source of revenue for Nepal and added to ‘clean energy’ for India.

Misri and Mani Ram Gelal, Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development of Nepal, inaugurated the ‘Nepal Bhasa Parishad’, a historical residential building associated with eminent Nepali poet Kavi Kesari Chittadhar ‘Hridaya’ in Raktakali. This is one of the 28 cultural sector reconstruction projects undertaken with Indian assistance after the devastating 2015 earthquake.