Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla will pay a two-day visit to Nepal later this week during which he will hold talks with his counterpart and other Nepalese dignitaries to advance bilateral ties, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Monday. The foreign secretary’s visit to Nepal on November 26-27 comes amid a strain in bilateral ties following a bitter border row between the two countries.
Shringla’s visit to Nepal will be his first trip to the country after assuming charge, according to the MEA. “The visit is in keeping with the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between the two countries and the priority India attaches to its relations with Nepal,” the MEA said in a statement.
During the visit, Foreign Secretary Shringla will meet his counterpart and other Nepalese dignitaries to discuss the wide ranging bilateral cooperation between the two countries, it said. Noting that India has historical and civilization linkages with Nepal, the MEA said in recent years, bilateral cooperation has strengthened, with several major infrastructure and cross-border connectivity projects completed with India’s assistance.
The visit will be an opportunity to further advance our bilateral ties, the MEA said. The ties between the two countries came under strain after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated an 80-km-long strategically crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8.
Nepal protested the inauguration of the road claiming that it passed through its territory. Days later, Nepal came out with the new map showing Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura as its territories.
After Nepal released the map, India reacted sharply, calling it a “unilateral act” and cautioning Kathmandu that such “artificial enlargement” of territorial claims will not be acceptable to it. In its reaction, after Nepal’s lower house of parliament approved the bill, India had also termed as untenable the “artificial enlargement” of territorial claims by the neighbouring country.
India had said Nepal’s action violates an understanding reached between the two countries to resolve the boundary issues through talks.
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