India, Nepal Ink Long-Term Power Deal During Jaishankar's Kathmandu Visit

India and Nepal signed several key agreements on Thursday as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held a “comprehensive and productive” meeting with his Nepalese counterpart NP Saud. The talks between the two ministers covered bilateral ties, trade, connectivity, and defense cooperation.

“Discussions focused on our overall bilateral ties, trade & economic relations, land, rail & air connectivity projects, cooperation in defense & security, agriculture, energy, power, water resources, disaster management, tourism, civil aviation, people-to-people & cultural exchanges and development partnership,” Jaishankar said in a post on X.

Jaishankar, who arrived in Nepal earlier in the day on his first visit to a foreign country in 2024, co-chaired with Saud the 7th India-Nepal Joint Commission meeting. In Jaishankar’s presence, Nepal’s Energy Secretary Gopal Sigdel and his Indian counterpart Pankaj Agrawal inked the bilateral agreement that will facilitate the export of 10,000 MW of electricity from Nepal to India in the next 10 years.

The two countries had reached an understanding on the electricity export during Prime Minister Pushpakamal Dahal Prachanda’s visit to India from May 31 to June 3 last year. Both sides had signed several major pacts including one on increasing New Delhi’s import of power from the neighbouring country to 10,000 MW in the next 10 years from the current 450 MW. India has also helped Nepal develop multiple hydropower projects on these high-volume rivers and more projects are in the pipeline.

During Thursday’s meeting, the two sides also exchanged agreements on implementation of High Impact Community Development Projects, Cooperation in Renewable Energy Development, Munal Satellite and Handover of 5th tranche of post-Jajarkot earthquake relief supply. The two sides also jointly inaugurated three cross-border transmission lines. Nepal’s Foreign Ministry said that various aspects of bilateral relations were discussed on the occasion under the thematic areas of economic relations, connectivity, trade and transit, power and water resources, education and culture and political matters among others.

Earlier, Jaishankar called on President Ramchandra Paudel and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda’ during which the two sides exchanged substantive views on the age-old, unique, and multifaceted ties. Jaishankar called on Prime Minister Prachanda at the latter’s office ‘Singhdurbar’ and conveyed the warm wishes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Nepal is important for India in the context of its overall strategic interests in the region, and the leaders of the two countries have often noted the age-old “Roti Beti” ties. The country shares a border of over 1,850 km with five Indian states – Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Land-locked Nepal relies heavily on India for the transportation of goods and services.

(With agency inputs)