Nepal will seek to start a new chapter with India prioritising infrastructure development in a bid to overcome the impact of the 2015 earthquake and months-long economic blockade, Prakash Sharan Mahat, Foreign Minister of the new government in Kathmandu, told The Hindu on Sunday.
Starting his three-day trip to India, Mr. Mahat said the difficulties that had marked bilateral ties during the previous government of K.P. Sharma Oli will not be allowed to recur. “We represent a positive change in Nepal’s relation with India,” he said.
Mr. Mahat indicated that talks on the Pancheshwar dam hydroelectricity power project were on track. He is likely to firm up the schedule and agreements before Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ arrives in New Delhi on September 15 for a four-day visit.
Apart from the dam, the Hulaki road project, construction of cross-border railways and building new skill development centres in Nepal are likely to feature in the discussions between Mr. Mahat and his counterpart Sushma Swaraj.
Border blockade
The visit by Mr. Mahat, his first as Foreign Minister, hints at a reset in Nepal-India ties after more than a year of turmoil which erupted after Nepal promulgated a new democratic Constitution on September 20 last year. Following the new Constitution, Nepal’s Madhesi population started an agitation which turned into a blockade on the India-Nepal border. Prime Minister Oli had blamed India for the blockade, triggering a diplomatic spat.
