Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who is on a three-day visit to India, after a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, said that the two heads of states discussed "boundary issues" with him urging his Indian counterpart to resolve all disputes through "bilateral mechanisms". Modi, who was listening to Deuba, said that the two sides discussed that "open borders" between India and Nepal should not be misused by "undesirable elements". This is Deuba's first bilateral visit abroad after becoming PM in July 2021. He has visited India in each of his four earlier stints as PM with the last one being in 2017. The bilateral ties have been strained since May 2020 when KP Sharma Oli was the Prime Minister of Nepal. "We discussed the boundary issues. And I urged Modiji to resolve through (the) establishment (of) bilateral mechanism," Deuba said. On his part, Modi said, "We discussed that the open borders between India and Nepal are not misused by undesirable elements. "We laid emphasis on deepening cooperation between our defense and security authorities. I am confident that our conversation will be able to attain the objective of achieving the ambitious targets of the India-Nepal relations." Modi also added that they have agreed to strengthen cooperation in the power sector and have finalized a Joint Vision statement on power cooperation, which acts as a blueprint for the future. The two sides, he informed, will also prioritizes trade and cross-border connectivity. They also launched the Rupay card in Nepali, which will start a new chapter on financial connectivity, Modi said. The two Prime Ministers also discussed other projects, such as a Nepal police academy, Integrated check posts and the Ramayana circuit. Prime Minister of Nepal Sher Bahadur Deuba is visiting India from April 1-3. Besides official engagements, he will be going to Varanasi. A statement issued by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs soon after delegation level talks between Modi and his visiting Nepalese counterpart Deuba that both sides reviewed the full spectrum of the bilateral agenda covering political, economic, trade, energy, security and developmental issues. Both PMs discussed opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation in the energy sector. A Joint Vision statement on power sector cooperation that explain the shared commitment and opportunities for collaboration in power generation, transmission and trade was concluded during the visit. Both prime ministers jointly inaugurated the 90 km long Solu Corridor Transmission line and substation built under the line of credit extended by India, according to the statement. Debua hailed the fresh approvals granted to Nepal Electricity Authority for the export of huge amount of power to India and invited Indian companies to participate in greater degree in Nepal's hydropower development projects. Modi welcomed Nepali's decision to join the International Solar Alliance. Both the sides discussed economic and trade agenda and decided to speed up action to further enhance trade, investment and connectivity linkages. Both leaders reviewed the progress in implementation of Indian projects in Nepal, including the cross-border rail-link projects connecting various Indian and Nepalese cities. — Agencies
