Officials from India and Nepal are likely to meet next week to review projects funded by the Indian government for the first time since relations between the two neighboring countries deteriorated following the Kalapani border dispute.
According to a report by The Indian Express, the meeting is likely to take place in Kathmandu, where Nepal’s Foreign Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi will lead a team of officials. The Indian side, according to the report, will be led by Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra.
While no date has been announced yet, sources told Indian Express that the meeting will take place on August 18 via videoconferencing in the view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the report, India is building roads in Terai region and helping Nepal in its post-earthquake reconstruction work. Work on building railway lines, a police training academy, a polytechnic college, an oil pipeline, and border check posts is on, according to the newspaper. The government had allocated Rs 800 crore in this year's budget for these projects in Nepal.
While this will be the first time since officials from India and Nepal will meet post the border issue, sources in Kathmandu and New Delhi told the newspaper that "not much should be read" into what will essentially be a "routine meeting".
On June 13, the lower house of Nepal's Parliament approved a map that included disputed territories of Lipulekh, Kalapani, and Limpiyadhura. The country had first introduced the new map in May.
India has said Nepal's "unilateral act is not based on historical facts and evidence". The Ministry of External Affairs also advised Nepal to avoid "artificial enlargement" of territorial claims.
While India has maintained that it is willing to hold talks with Nepal regarding the issue if Kathmandu creates a "conductive atmosphere" and "positive situation", sources told the newspaper that is yet to happen.
"Now the onus is on the Oli government," the source said.
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