Nepal is currently pursuing ways to work out the plan under a government-government deal between the two countries.

Nepal Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali is expected to discuss about the same with Japanese government authorities in his upcoming bilateral visit to Japan on November 17, 2018.

“We want to have government to government deal in this respect,” said Gyawali in an official statement, while informing that the agreement involves both skilled and unskilled Nepali workers.

Besides the labor deal, Nepal is also looking at opportunities from Japan’s agro-based technology and also discuss key aspects of Nepal-Japan bilateral ties as part of the meeting, informed the Minister.

Gyawali on Recent Developments in South Asia
Speaking to the media, Gyawali also spoke on some recent developments in South Asian countries pertaining to Bhutan and Sri Lanka. “It was interesting development taking place in Bhutan where democracy is thriving,” said Gyawali, adding that they are also closely watching Sri Lanka without making any emphasis on its internal affairs.

As part of the press conference, Gyawali emphasized on Nepal’s long-standing position on Bhutanese refugees calling for preservation of their rights to return to homeland.

“I met with senior officials from International Migration Organization (IOM) and UN refugee agency. Our position is clear, those left (around 6,900) should be repatriated to Bhutan and others settled in third country, should have rights to return to Bhutan,” said Gyawali.

Speaking further on UN and IMO’s assurance to repatriate the refugees, Gyawali said, “I will remind you all one thing, while in the initial days of their third country settlement, UN refugee agency and IOM had assured us they would lobby with Bhutan for repatriation of those left in camps.”

“It is sad to see that their assurance has not worked yet. The old and helpless people are living in camps now. They should return to Bhutan,” he added.

In this regard, he said Nepal Government will speak with the new Bhutanese Government on the repatriation of all those Bhutanese refugees lying in refugee camps of the eastern district of Nepal in Jhapa.

Striking out misconceptions on support to refugees, Gyawali said Nepal Government has done its best to the refugees and every contribution has to be taken into consideration when it comes to local support.

Gyawali also informed about the appointment of new ambassadors soon and announced about President Bidya Devi Bhandari’s Poland visit from December 1-5, 2018 for the United Nations’ Climate Change Conference (COP 24).

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With this decision, India’s financial aid to Nepal for the new financial year steps up to Rs 650 crore, a 73 percent rise over the previous year, wherein, the allocation was Rs 375 crore.

Besides Nepal, India has also decided to give financial aid of Rs 1,813 crore to Bhutan for the coming financial year, the highest among other recipient nations receiving aid from India for FY 2018-19.

“India and Nepal have close civilizational and cultural ties, and a wide-ranging and expanding partnership across diverse sectors, which stand firmly on their own. The Indian Government is committed to advancing its development partnership to Nepal as per their priorities,” said the Indian Parliamentary Committee report on External Affairs.

The report further noted that the allocation of funds to both the countries also reflects India’s commitment to support both the countries towards expediting the development of ongoing projects, among other activities in coordination with the respective governments.

This news gains significance in the light of Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s likely visit to India in the first week of April 2018.

Though a formal announcement in this regard is yet to be made, Oli’s three-day maiden trip to India after assuming office is being considered key to the foreign relations between the two countries in view of the formation of Communist-led government in Nepal.

India For a Lifeline Project with Nepal

Meanwhile, in another update indicating strong Indo-Nepal diplomatic ties, India is seeking Nepal’s help for the revival of its Yamuna River to address water concerns in the Indian capital Delhi.

This move is part of Indian PM Narendra Modi’s trans-country river-linking project that is aimed at interlinking 31 rivers and divert the excess water quantity to the arid areas.

Through this project, India is looking at bringing in water from Sharda River or Mahakali River on the Indo-Nepal border to Yamuna near Delhi.

“The proposal has been cleared by a committee of secretaries and a request has been sent to the MEA (ministry of external affairs) to initiate a dialogue with Nepal,” said Indian Secretary for Water Resources UP Singh.

The committee of secretaries has actually met Nepal to negotiate with Nepal on the 540-MW capacity Pancheshwar multi-purpose hydropower project. 

The proposed Shard-Yamuna project is being considered as a lifeline project for Yamuna and is expected to benefit four Indian States: UP, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan.

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As part of the visit, the Pakistani leader discussed strengthening regional cooperation, trade enhancement, among other key issues with his Nepali counterpart and other Nepali officials.

A release from the Pakistani Foreign Office says Abbasi’s visit to Nepal will boost bilateral ties between the two countries in various sectors such as education, tourism, defense, among others.

Interestingly, this is the first-ever high-level foreign official’s visit to Nepal after the announcement of new Nepali Government under the leadership of KP Sharma Oli as Prime Minister, and he is also the first Pakistani Prime Minister to visit Nepal in the last three years period.

A Rare Honor!

As part of his discussions with Oli, Pakistani premier discussed Nepal’s support for strengthening SAARC and sought cooperation in enhancing cooperation in defense, economic and cultural sectors.

Lauding Nepal’s transition in the political process, Pakistani premier stressed on the need for enhanced economic cooperation along with ties in tourism, education and sports sectors.

Towards enhancing bilateral trade and regional cooperation, the two leaders discussed reactivation of Pakistan Nepal Joint Economic Commission and the Joint Business Council.

Welcoming Abbasi, the Government of Nepal also accorded a special guard of honor to him at Nepal’s Army Pavilion, making him the first leader to receive such honor from Nepal.

For a Strong SAARC

Strengthening South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to make it more powerful with the support of Nepal is one of the top priorities in Abbasi’s visit.

As part of this visit, the Pakistani premier urged Nepal for its support to conduct the next SAARC summit.

While Nepal hosted the 18^th SAARC summit in 2014, the 19^th SAARC Summit was planned by Pakistan, however could not be happen due to reluctance from majority of the member countries to attend the summit.

A discourse on the progress of the SAARC process will be initiated after the visit as Nepal has been a strong supporter of SAARC process from the very beginning of SAARC in 1985, hosted three summits before and is a strong supporter of it, says Lekhanath Pandey, a Kathmandu-based diplomacy analyst.

Once this visit happens, I guess there would be positive ambits towards moving ahead under the umbrella of SAARC, Pandey added.

Trade, Regional Cooperation and More

SAARC Chamber President Suraj Vaidya termed Abbasi’s Nepal visit as an opportunity that would open more avenues for new ways of bilateral trade.

According to Suraj, this visit also encourages regional trade, business cooperation and bilateral cooperation between the two countries across all areas of interest, while also contributing to the bilateral ties and overall development of SAARC region.

He further opined that the two countries should think of exploring products of comparative advantage.

According to Suraj, a direct air link, enhanced business visits and formation of display centers will favor Nepal-Pakistan trade ties ensuring increased profits for both the countries.

Suraj further added that SAARC should also focus more on poverty alleviation and development of health, trade and commerce sectors.

SAARC Pakistan Chamber’s Vice President Iftikhar Ali Malik urged on the need for promoting investment opportunities between the countries.

Stating that Nepal and Pakistan are vital to SAARC, Malik stressed on enhancing bilateral trade through enhanced cooperation in key sectors such as infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, automotive and agriculture industries.

Media Calls On

Welcoming Abbasi’s visit to the Himalayan nation, a delegation of Nepali CEOs and journalists from leading Nepali media houses called on the Pakistani premier for his update on key matters like China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) highlighting Nepal’s participation in the One Belt-One Road (OBOR) project, among others.

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