That China and Nepal signed an agreement for return of one's citizens crossing the border with the other country illegally within seven days has been revealed now.
The agreement has become public now when the government registered the agreement about border management system signed during the Nepal visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping at the House of Representatives (HoR).
"The boundary representatives or competent authorities of both sides shall investigate the cases of persons found while crossing border illegally, ascertain their identities, cross border facts and reasons as soon as possible and hand them over to the side where they stayed before crossing the border within seven days from the day when they were detained," clause 26(2) of the agreement reads. "If such persons cannot be handed over or received within the set time, the boundary representatives or competent authorities of the other side shall be informed about them and the reason."
The agreement was signed on October 13, 2019 during the Nepal visit of Xi Jinping. There were reports about the two countries signing extradition treaty during Xi's visit but Nepal had refused to sign it.
This provision may have been kept to allow return of citizens in absence of the extradition treaty.
Nepal and China had signed border agreement on March 22, 1960. The two countries share 1,414 kilometers of border.
