Don’t miss the latest developments in business and finance.

Nepal-India EPG meeting discusses bilateral relations

Image
Press Trust of India Kathmandu
Last Updated : Jul 05 2016 | 7:13 PM IST
The first meeting of the Eminent Persons' Group that concluded here today discussed the entire gamut of bilateral ties between India and Nepal.
During the meeting, political issues, government-to- government relations, social and cultural ties, economic exchange and developmental cooperation came up for discussion, according to Nepal Foreign Ministry sources.
As this was the introductory meeting, no decision was made on any issue, one of the participating members said.
The governments of Nepal and India have assigned the EPG, which comprises of four members each from both the countries, to prepare a joint report with recommendations on how to improve bilateral ties between the two countries in the changed context and to review various agreements and understandings reached in the past.
The report would be pragmatic, implementable and contextual for both the countries, according to Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, EPG coordinator from Nepalese side.
The EPG has been given two years mandate to come up with the comprehensive report on anything that needs to be updated, adjusted or amended in all existing bilateral treaties, agreements, understandings, including the Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1950.

Also Read

The EPG would hold its next meetingwithin three months for further discussion either in Kathmandu or New Delhi, according to the official.
The two-day meeting was inaugurated by Kamal Thapa, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister yesterday.
Formation of EPG was decided upon Nepal's proposal during the third Nepal-India Joint Commission meeting in July, 2014.
The EPG members from Nepal are former foreign minister Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, former chief commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority Surya Nath Upadhyay, former law minister Nilamber Acharya and CPN-UML lawmaker Rajan Bhattarai.
Senior BJP leader Bhagat Singh Koshyari, former vice-chancellor of Sikkim University Mahendra Lama, former Indian ambassador to Nepal Jayant Prasad and Vivekananda International Foundation senior fellow B C Upreti represented India.

More From This Section

First Published: Jul 05 2016 | 7:13 PM IST

Next Story