Leading a group from India, the Minister of External Affairs for India, S. Jaishankar arrived in Kathmandu on Thursday morning for the seventh meeting of the Nepal-India joint commission. Jaishankar was welcomed at Tribhuvan International Airport by his Nepali counterpart, NP Saud, along with other high-ranking government officials and representatives of the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.
Leading a group from India, the Minister of External Affairs for India, S. Jaishankar arrived in Kathmandu on Thursday morning for the seventh meeting of the Nepal-India joint commission. Jaishankar was welcomed at Tribhuvan International Airport by his Nepali counterpart, NP Saud, along with other high-ranking government officials and representatives of the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu. We cannot drop our prime concerns even if there can be no agreements in this meeting. We should bring them to the table,” a minister said, describing the mood of the discussion between the prime minister and Saud, adding, “We will table them, but there might be no understanding on these issues.”
Even the prime minister has said that he will speak with the Indian ambassador, if needed, to continue discussions on these issues, which he had also discussed with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his India visit last year.The issue of replacing the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Nepal and India has for long been a bone of contention. To chart out a new framework for Nepal-India relations, including recommendations on what to do with the treaty, the two countries had formed an Eminent Persons’ Group (EPG), which has already submitted its report in 2018.
Another unresolved issue pertains to boundary matters. There is now a ‘cartographic war’ following the publications of new maps by India and then Nepal, with each side’s map incorporating disputed territories including Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura. These areas have been under Indian control for several decades. The Indian minister will return home on Friday.
