· The 1996 Mahakali Treaty between India and Nepal provides for the implementation of the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project. The project, which is designed as a peak power project, will have an installed capacity of 5600 MW and will create an irrigation potential of 130,000 hectares in Nepal and 240,000 hectares in India. · On 25 November 2014, a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Tourism between the Ministry of Tourism, the Government of India and the Government of Nepal was signed in Kathmandu to enhance bilateral cooperation in the field of tourism and hospitality and strengthen the existing friendship relations between India and Nepal. The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries would make a major contribution to deepening and broadening cooperation in the field of tourism and would also promote cooperation and direct communication between tourism and hospitality stakeholders in order to improve cooperation in tourism and strengthen economic development and job creation. In addition to bilateral trade, Nepal`s transit trade passes through twenty-two designated routes between the Indo-Nepalese border and the ports of Calcutta/Haldia and Vishakapatnam. In addition, Nepal`s trade with and through Bangladesh is also managed by India. The Indian government is supporting the development of cross-border trade-related infrastructure. It includes the modernization of four major customs checkpoints at Birgunj-Raxaul, Biratnagar-Jogbani, Bhairahawa-Sunauli and Nepalgunj-Rupediya to international standards; Extension of access roads to the border on the Indian side; the modernisation and extension of the road network in the Terai region of Nepal; and the large-scale measurement and extension of rail links with Nepal. The integrated checkpoints in Birgunj are fully operational and those in Biratnagar are almost complete. · For the first time, bilateral air trade will be allowed by international airports connected by direct flights between Nepal and India (Kathmandu/Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai).
In 2005, after King Gyanendra seized power, Nepal`s relations with India deteriorated. But even after the restoration of democracy in 2008, Prachanda, the prime minister of Nepal, visited India in September 2008 only after a visit to China, breaking the Nepalese prime minister`s long tradition of making India his first port of call. When he was in India, he spoke of a new dawn in bilateral relations between the two countries. He said, “I am going back to Nepal as a satisfied person. I will tell the nepalese people at home that a new era has opened. It is time to bring about a revolutionary change in bilateral relations. On behalf of the new government, I assure you that we are determined to make a fresh start. The birthplace of Gautama Buddha, a constant problem for many people of Nepalese origin, has long been a cultural and social problem spared by the political landscape of Nepal and India. [29] However, since the deterioration of relations between the two countries, the issue has been used to undermine relations between the two countries, both politically and socially. The two-day international Buddhist conference in Kathmandu, held from May 19 to 20, 2016, marked the Vesak and the Buddha`s 2,560th birthday was also used to promote the Buddha`s birthplace, which is in present-day Nepal. [30] The nepalese Ministry of Culture`s decision to change the theme “Preservation and Development of Nepalese Buddhist Heritage” to the sub-theme “Lumbini – Birthplace of Buddha” under the name “Lumbini – Source of Buddhism” was criticized by India, which later boycotted the conference for this reason and because of China`s alleged monetary participation in the conference. [31] Nepalese Prime Minister K.P.
Oli told the media that the conference “should help us make the world understand that Buddha was born in Nepal and that Buddhist philosophy is the product of Nepal.” [32] In 2008, Indo-Nepal relations received a new impetus with an agreement to resume water talks after a 4-year hiatus. [16] [17] Nepal`s Minister of Water Resources, Shanker Prasad Koirala, said the meeting of the Nepal-India Joint Committee on Water Resources decided to start rebuilding the Koshi dam that was broken after the water level dropped. [18] During the Nepalese Prime Minister`s visit to New Delhi in September, the two Prime Ministers expressed their satisfaction with the close, cordial and extensive centuries-old relations between their states and expressed their support and cooperation to further strengthen relations. · A high-level meeting of the Governmental Committee (IGC) on Trade, Transit and Cooperation to Control Unauthorized Trade between India and Nepal is held at regular intervals. The Intergovernmental Conference provides a regular platform for reviewing the implementation of previous trade and transit agreements and for discussing new measures to facilitate bilateral trade and investment. It is a platform to discuss and resolve issues related to bilateral trade between India and Nepal, transit facilities provided by India to Nepal to facilitate trade with third countries, investment promotion, improvement of infrastructure at land customs posts, daily problems of regulation of Nepalese transit traffic, issues related to Indian investments in Nepal, etc. The 4th session of the IGC/IGSC took place on 26 and 27 April 2018 in Kathmandu, Nepal. Territorial disputes between India and Nepal include Kalapani 400 km2 in the India-Nepal-China border triangle in western Nepal and Susta 140 km2 in southern Nepal. Nepal claims that the river west of Kalapani is the main Kali River; therefore, the region should belong to Nepal. [34] [35] But India claims that the river west of Kalapani is not the main Kali River, and therefore the border should be based on the ridge lines of the Om Parvat Mountains to the east of the river.
The river borders the Nepalese province of Sudurpashchim and the Indian state of Uttarakhand. The Treaty of Sugauli, signed by Nepal and British India on 4 March 1816,[36] established the Kali River as Nepal`s western border with India. Later maps, drawn by British surveyors, show the source of the border river at various locations. This divergence in the location of the river`s source has led to border disputes between India and Nepal, with each country creating maps in support of its own claims. However, starting in 1962, the Indian government advanced the argument that the border should be based on the ridge lines of Mount Om Parvat. The Kali River flows through an area that includes a disputed area of about 400 km2 around the source of the river, although the exact size of the disputed area varies from source to source. The conflict escalated in 1997 when nepal`s parliament considered a treaty on the river`s hydroelectric development. India and Nepal differ in the current that is the source of the river. Nepal is said to have submitted a map from the Office of British India from 1856 to support its position. [36] Kalapani has been controlled by India`s Indo-Tibetan border security forces since the Sino-Indian war with China in 1962. .