Kathmandu: Nepal and India signed six Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) during the day-long visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha.
One of the major takeaways of the visit is the joint development of the Arun-4 hydroelectricity project between the two neighboring nations.
India’s Sutlej Jala Vidyut Nigam (SJVN), and Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), will jointly develop the project that has an installed capacity of 695 megawatts. Nepal will receive 21.9 percent free energy after completing the project. It will cost around $750 million to develop the project.
The two sides also signed an MoU between the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) and Lumbini Buddhist University on the establishment of Dr Ambedkar Chair for Buddhist Studies.
Similarly, the ICCR and the Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies Tribhuvan University signed another pact on the establishment of the ICCR Chair of Indian Studies at CNAS.
The Kathmandu University and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras have signed another MoU on collaboration in the education sector, while a Letter of Agreement was inked between the two for a joint degree program at the Master’s level. The pacts were signed after bilateral talks between Modi and his Nepali counterpart, Sher Bahadur Deuba.
Naveen Srivastava named India’s envoy to Nepal
Naveen Srivastava, part of negotiations with China over eastern Ladakh, has been named the next Indian envoy to Nepal. The decision comes a day after PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Lumbini. Srivastava, a 1993 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS), is currently serving as an additional secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
