KATHMANDU, Jan 29: Foreign Minister N P Saud on Monday said that the border issue between Nepal and India should be resolved on the basis of political consensus.
The technical mechanisms created to resolve the border problem should find a solution acceptable to both the countries after completing necessary technical works, Saud said while speaking at a programme organised on the occasion of India’s 75th Republic Day here.
“We also have a joint technical committee in this regard. That mechanism should be activated after which the leadership of both countries should resolve this problem diplomatically based on the facts. We are already working towards that direction,” the minister said at the programme organised by the Nepal-India Human Development and Friendship Association.
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Foreign Minister Saud said that during the recent visit of India’s external affairs minister S Jaishankar to Nepal, the representatives of both countries had reached an understanding to resolve the border issue through dialogue and discussions.
“In order to resolve the economic problems facing the country, we need to produce more hydroelectricity and increase electricity trade with both India and Bangladesh,” he said.
Nepal and India recently signed an agreement under which India has agreed to purchase 10,000 MW of electricity from Nepal within the next ten years.
Earlier on Saturday, Saud, while attending another Republic Day-related event, had said the border dispute between Nepal and India can be sorted out in a “cordial manner through dialogue” instead of making it “a big political issue” between the two countries which share history and geography and are bound together by a common culture.
“As there is more than 1,800 km long, open border between Nepal and India, some dispute and debate relating to the border is inevitable between the two neighbours. But the joint technical committee of the two countries has sorted out most of the disputes. Susta and Kalapani-Lipulekh are the only two border points, which need to be resolved,” he had said then.
Nepal is considered an important country for New Delhi as it shares a border of over 1,850 km with five Indian states – Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. (PTI)
