Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal has briefed Parliament on his recent visit to India.
Khanal recently undertook a three-day official visit to India at the invitation of Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
Addressing the House, Khanal said: “I believe the first high-level visit officially representing the new government formed after the elections held in March has made an important contribution to further strengthening the friendly and multidimensional bilateral relationship between Nepal and India.”
He informed lawmakers that he held a formal meeting and delegation-level talks with Jaishankar in New Delhi on June 6.
According to Khanal, the two sides held extensive and productive discussions covering all aspects of Nepal–India bilateral relations.
“The bilateral talks included substantive discussions on topics such as trade and economic cooperation, connectivity, energy partnership, water resources management, shared security concerns, border management, sports cooperation, and people-to-people ties. Both sides expressed their commitment to further strengthening bilateral relations. Also, views were exchanged on various regional and international issues. The progress of projects operating on bilateral cooperation between Nepal and India was reviewed, and important discussions were held on ways to make them more effective,” he said.
Khanal informed the House that he also met India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval during the visit.
According to Khanal, they exchanged views on shared security concerns, border management, and various aspects of the strategic partnership between the two countries during the meeting.
The Foreign Minister said that several cooperation initiatives were advanced during the visit, including cross-border payment operations, the handover of reconstruction projects completed with Indian development assistance following the earthquake in Nepal, and an exchange of a memorandum of understanding between Kathmandu University School of Engineering's Digital Public Infrastructure and Artificial Intelligence Center and Digital India Bhashini Division to build a national digital infrastructure for a language translation platform in collaboration.
