New Delhi: India and Nepal which share an open border, are quietly moving towards rechartering a new policy that will boost bilateral trade and people-to-people contact.
The International Business Times, an American online publication, noted that the chief of BJP’s foreign affairs department, Vijay Chauthaiwale’s recent visit to Kathmandu and meetings with the top leaders might go unnoticed by the masses, but it is a crucial step in the direction of jump-starting bilateral ties between India and Nepal.
A step that is seen to be cementing India-Nepal ties, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week increased the limit on remittance for a single transaction from India to Nepal under the Indo-Nepal Remittance Facility Scheme from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh.
Insiders said that India will have to put in place a well thought out Nepal at the earliest, especially as China has already been trying to increase its influence in Kathmandu.
Insiders said that Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba too is looking at India for extended support at a time when the new government would face the tall task of stabilizing the economy.
“Prime Minister (Sher Bahadur) Deuba’s India strategy should be clear and concise. It should focus on cleaning up the clutter and confusion left behind by the previous administration. A very precise message should be sounded to not just India and the Indian leadership, but to his own constituency, that Nepal accords the highest priority to developing friendly and constructive relations with New Delhi,” Bhaskar Koirala, Director of the Nepal Institute of International and Strategic Studies told India Narrative.
For now, India will be keenly watching Deuba’s cabinet that the leader is yet to form despite completing over a month in office. (Indianarrative.com)
