Contentious issues between India and Pakistan can be resolved through dialogue and negotiations, Nepal's Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said here on Thursday.
"Problems between India and Pakistan will be solved through dialogues, negotiations, and understanding. We have a common commitment and resolve against any type of terrorist activities across the world. So I believe that the present dilemma will be solved soon," Gyawali told ANI.
Speaking on the ban of Indian currency notes in Nepal, the Foreign Minister stated that talks are still going on between the Nepali banks and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
"The notes have not been banned. We have requested India that it should give us an assurance that the new notes of Rs 200, Rs 500 and Rs 2000 will be exchanged later so that nobody can feel any inconvenience in the near future," Gyawali clarified. "We still have a small amount of demonetised currency with us. We have even requested Indian government to reconsider it to exchange the notes and settle that problem," he added.
Addressing the press on the second day of the Raisina Dialogue 2019, the Foreign Minister assured attendance at the 20th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) meeting, slated to be held in Sri Lanka this year, after the previous meeting that was scheduled to take place in Pakistan was boycotted by all SAARC members.
"Though the SAARC summit has been postponed since 2016, other mechanisms of SAARC are still active. Recently, we celebrated the SAARC Saturday and all the heads of government formed strong commitments to the SAARC process. Therefore, I am confident that the present dilemma of SAARC will be settled soon," the Foreign Minister said while noting that SAARC is an important and a common platform for billions of South Asian people to tackle their problems.
"So we are optimistic," the Foreign Minister added.
Gyawali also addressed the problem of cattle smuggling on the India-Nepal border and said the Nepal government is trying its best to settle the issue with India.
Speaking on the rising infrastructure developments in Nepal, the Foreign Minister said that the Nepal earthquake reconstruction program is moving ahead smoothly.
"We lost around 800 thousand households. Out of them, 45 per cent have already been completed, while approximately 33 per cent is about to be completed," Gyawali noted. "By this year, the personal households will be reconstructed and all vacant will go back to their home. Heritage sites are also under construction. We are now focusing in the area of school buildings, hospitals, and health centers. We have planned to complete all our reconstruction process within two years from now," he added.
Gyawali addressed the Raisana Dialogue in the national capital on Thursday. Moreover, he is scheduled to meet high-level officials of the Indian government before returning to Kathmandu on January 11.
Earlier in the day, Gyawali met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of the Raisina Dialogue, which bears the theme of -- "A world re-order: new geometrics, fluid partnerships, and uncertain outcomes."
A release by the Ministry of External Affairs said that the two ministers reviewed recent developments in bilateral ties across diverse sectors, including progress achieved on the three transformative initiatives launched in 2018 in the areas of agriculture, railways and inland waterways as well as the pace of implementation of ongoing bilateral development and connectivity projects. They expressed satisfaction at the significant progress made in different sectors of cooperation as a result of intensified bilateral exchanges at all levels in recent months.
The two leaders also reiterated their commitment to maintain the new momentum and to further strengthen the traditionally close and friendly ties between the two countries.
Gyawali even extended an invitation to Swaraj to visit Nepal to co-chair the next meeting of the Joint Commission, which was accepted by the Indian External Affairs Minister. The two ministers decided to hold the next meeting of the Joint Commission at an early date, the statement read.
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