India and Nepal Wednesday decided that the chiefs of their respective border districts shall meet more often to iron out contentious issues and make the 1,750-km open border more secure.
The 11th meeting of the joint task force on Nepal-India Border Management, which concluded Wednesday in Pokhara, Nepal, decided to make the bordering districts coordination meetings between the two countries more frequent.
Currently, chief district officers and district magistrates of bordering districts in Nepal and India, respectively, hold the meeting tri-annually.
In the meeting, the Nepali delegation was led by Joint Secretary in the home ministry Laxmi Prasad Dhakal, while his Indian counterpart Hitesh Kumar S. Makwana led the Indian team.
The meeting discussed possible bilateral security assistance for controlling criminal activities like human trafficking, drug trafficking, arms smuggling and terrorism in bordering areas.
The meeting identified trafficking of women and children, illegal activities by armed groups operational in India, trading of counterfeit money, child abuse, management of border pillars and religious extremism as major areas of concern.
During the meeting, the Nepali delegates drew attention to the danger of massive flooding in the Himalayan nation's territory as a result of haphazard construction of roads and other structures on the Indian side of the border. The Indian emissaries agreed to find common ground to resolve the issue after studying the matter.
The Indian side also committed to easing pension distribution to former Indian army personnel from Nepal based on verification by related district administration offices.
The representatives from Nepal raised the issue of repeated instances of harassment of Nepali citizens by Indian Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB) and customs officials to which the Indian authorities said the SSB had already been directed against such actions and requested Nepal to report further incidents to the Indian embassy.
Nepal has urged the Indian side to stop construction of a road parallel to the Nepal-India border on the Indian side immediately fearing inundation and displacement in the rainy season.
The Indian side responded to Nepal's request positively and communicated that a technical team has already been formed by the Indian government to look at the effects on Nepal's side made by Indian structures.
The Indian side has praised Nepal's active role in seizing large hauls of counterfeit Indian currencies and has asked Kathmandu to share information regarding the same. Also, both sides agreed to make SIM card distribution in their respective countries more managed as illegal SIM cards are being used for criminal activities.
Nepal and India have been organising such meetings every year in turns. The next home secretary-level meeting will be held in New Delhi.
(Anil Giri can be contacted at girianil@gmail.com)
