Foreign Affairs

Visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra has held bilateral talks with his Nepali counterpart Bharat Raj Paudyal and reviewed the wide-ranging India-Nepal partnership, according to Indian Embassy in Nepal.

“Both sides agreed to further strengthen their economic and development cooperation for benefit of the two countries and region as a whole,” the Embassy tweeted after the two sides held formal talks in Kathmandu on Monday.

Kwatra arrived in Kathmandu on Monday, and he’s due to call on Nepal’s top officials during his stay. It was not immediately clear if the two sides discussed contentious boundary issues, specifically the disputes of Susta and Kalapani areas which both countries claim as their own. 

It’s also unclear if the two sides discussed how to go ahead with Gorkha recruitment under India’s Agnipath scheme, which Nepal rejected after it was floated. 

Kwatra’s visit comes amid growing Indian concerns over Chinese influence in Nepal after CPN Maoist Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda returned to power in Nepal.

Several Indian analysts have voiced concerns that Prachanda, and his ally, CPN-UML Chair KP Sharma Oli, being communist leaders, might get closer to Beijing at the expense of Nepal’s relations with Delhi. But the former Maoist rebel leader has maintained that Nepal would maintain equal relations with both giant neighbours. 

Foreign Secretary Kwatra is considered to be well-versed and up-to-date on Nepal-Indian relations, because he served in Kathmandu for two years as an Indian ambassador before his appointment as Foreign Secretary. He’s expected to convey Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message plus invitation to visit Delhi to Prachanda.