Modi visit helped, Nepal wants more

India’s ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae said the border summit assumed significance because both countries sharing a common culture had people to people contact along the 1872-km Indo-Nepal border. “PM Modi clearly outlined ‘neighbourhood first’ as the main basis of its foreign policy and it is the line of his ‘sakba saath, sabka vikas’ slogan,” said Rae, adding that the PM’s recent visits, including his presence in the SAARC summit, had boosted bilateral relations.

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He said the countries had been studying the recommendations of the Indo-Nepal expert professor Lok Raj Baral’s report to sort out border issues and strengthen ties.

India’s secretary (border management) Sneh Lata Kumar said the fact that about 60 lakh Nepali people had been living and working in India was the biggest proof of the unique Indo-Nepal ties. “Over 12 lakh Indian tourists visited Nepal between August 2013 and July 2014. Nepal has 78 per cent of bilateral trade with India… We have taken this further by signing an MoU on Integrated Border checkposts at bordering towns. One such post at Raxaul-Birgunj is at the completion stage… Integrated customs will be ready by year-end”. She added that a Rs 1,320 crore project of construction of rail routes on main bordering towns was under way and work had been started on the Jogbani and Raxaul routes.

Indian Consul General Anju Ranjan said Birgunj was chosen for the summit because it was business capital of Nepal.

Former Nepal minister of state for home affairs Rizwan Ansari said, “We were greatly impressed with Narendra Modi when he said India cannot sleep well if its neighbour feels uneasy. Islam says as much about neighbours. His visit did boost people’s morale and now both sides have to work together to sort out bilateral issues.”

Nepal deputy director general, department of customs, Damodar Regmi talked about the need to relax customs norms and strike better coordination.