Nepal Government positive toward improving bilateral ties with India

KATHMANDU, Aug 20: The Prime Minister’s foreign adviser Dr. Rajan Bhattarai said ” The current government is positive towards improving bilateral ties with its closest neighbor India” speaking at a special interaction program organized at the Reporters Club of Nepal.

Dr. Bhattarai said that “India-Nepal relations have a long history of cultural assimilation. This similarity has led to a never-ending bond between the two nations. We have a socio-economic partnership, tourism, and two-thirds business is done with India where a large part of our economic resources goes to them while we bear the losses, we have seasonal workers going to India for work. Our relationship with India is interwoven, and hence we have taken this meeting very seriously”.

He also stressed on the importance of the current visit of Dr. S. Jaishankar who will Chair the meeting along with his counterpart Mr. Pradeep Gyawali. Dr. Jaishankar is the External Affairs Minister and an important figure of the Modi cabinet, Dr. Bhattarai said “we have to build trust, and we are positive that it will materialize and take our level of international relations that we share to greater heights. The government is serious in taking the relationship forward and hence we are looking at it with confidence and positivism”.

Dr. Rajan Bhattarai is also the member of the Eminent Persons Group of India and Nepal to oversee the bilateral relations between the two nations. He said that three Prime Ministers from Nepal have played a major role which includes current Prime Minister KP Oli, the other being Late Sushil Koirala and Dr. Baburam Bhattarai. Dr. Rajan Bhattarai also said that the EPG was a necessary platform to bring all unsettled issues to the negotiating table. With both Prime Ministers involved, it is certain that the Indian PM will understand the aims and aspirations of the Nepalese people.

Finally speaking of the current status of the Prime Minister KP Oli’s heath and his visit to Singapore, Dr. Bhattarai said “there is nothing serious, and this is just a follow-up required from the Doctors in Singapore to adjust his medications, and they would personally want to keep him under observation. He is absolutely fine, and since his return, he has been working continuously like a normal person”

Counter questioned by the President of the Reporters Club Mr. Rishi Dhamala as to whether Mr. Modi will understand and accept all our proposals, Dr. Bhattarai replied that ” yes he will understand”.

The fifth meeting of the India-Nepal Joint Commission will begin tomorrow.