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Kwatra holds key meetings with Nepal’s top leaders

Foreign Secretary Kwatra meets Nepal President, PM

Kwatra arrived in Kathmandu on a two-day visit at the invitation of his Nepal counterpart Bharat Paudyal…reports Asian Lite News

Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra here on Monday held discussions with Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ on bilateral issues across various sectors, including economic and development cooperation.

Kwatra also paid a courtesy visit to President Bidhya Devi Bhandari at Sheetal Niwas and conveyed greetings on behalf of Indian President Droupadi Murmu, the Indian Embassy in Nepal tweeted after the meeting.

Kwatra arrived in Kathmandu on a two-day visit at the invitation of his Nepal counterpart Bharat Paudyal, according to the Indian Embassy. “Foreign Secretary Kwatra called on Rt. Hon. PM @cmprachanda and held productive discussions on bilateral issues across various sectors, including economic and development cooperation,” according to a tweet by Indian Embassy in Nepal.

Kwatra on Monday met with Nepal foreign minister Bimala Rai Paudyal and discussed strengthening comprehensive bilateral relations.

The two discussed various aspects of Nepal-India relations including the power sector cooperation, trade, and transit.

“Various aspects of Nepal-India relations including the power sector cooperation, trade, transit, education, culture, healthcare, and connectivity infrastructure were discussed during the meeting,” according to Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Indian Embassy in Nepal in a tweet on Monday said: “Welcomes Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra who is visiting Nepal from 13-14 February 2023. During the visit, Foreign Secretary will meet Foreign Secretary of Nepal, Bharat Raj Paudyal and hold discussions on the entire range of multifaceted India-Nepal cooperation.”

Kwatra’s visit is expected to lay a ground for Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda to India, according to another official at the ministry. Earlier, PM Prachanda said that he will visit India soon without giving specific dates.

Kwatra’s visit to Nepal also follows two high-level visits from India�by Nepal’s former Prime Minister Deuba to New Delhi in April and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, in May last year.



The two friendly neighbors are making significant progress on various areas of bilateral cooperation including energy and railroad connectivity as per the consensus reached at the highest political level.

In August last year, Nepal Investment Board under the Nepali government signed a pact with India’s NHPC Limited to develop two hydroelectric projects�West Seti (750 megawatts) and Seti River-6 (450 megawatts) � in the far-western region of Nepal. The West Seti was earlier being developed by China.

The Indian foreign secretary’s visit to Kathmandu also has its geopolitical dimension. His visit comes on the heels of flurry of high-level visits from the United States amid growing China-US geostrategic rivalry in the Himalayan nation.

Nepal received two high level visits from the United States in the past two weeks. Victoria Nuland, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs came here earlier last week and Samantha Power, the USAID administrator concluded her whirlwind visit this week.

Meanwhile, Afreen Akhter, deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs (SCA) for Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and the Maldives, as well as the Office of Security and Transnational Affairs, is visiting Nepal from February 13.

ALSO READ: Nepal’s Defence Minister visits India

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Prachanda-Oli Split Rocks Nepal’s Ruling Alliance

Oil rocks Prachanda’s boat after adverse result

The issue of the presidential election has further widened the rift between the Maoist and the UML, the two partners in the government, reports Santosh Ghimire

Never the best of allies, the growing rift between Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda and former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is sending shockwaves in the ruling communist-led seven party alliance.

The Prachanda government is also challenged by smaller aspirational parties including the youth-oriented Rastriya Swantantra Party (RSP) and Madhesi parties. Besides the Nepali congress which has the highest number of the seats in parliament is making incremental gains, putting it in pole position to play the kingmaker role, exploiting the rift in Nepal’s communist camp.

For instance, the Nepali Congress, the largest party in Nepal, has made a comeback to power in a key Sudurpaschim Province in the country’s west along the India-Nepal border.

Kamal Bahadur shah, a leader of the Nepali Congress, largest party in parliament, has been appointed the chief minister of the Sudurpaschim Province replacing the ruling coalition’s Rajendra Singh Rawal who is also the leader of the KP Oli-led Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist).

The change of guard in the provincial government took place as Chief Minister Rawal failed to secure a required majority in the provincial assembly.

Rawal’s fall became apparent as Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP), a key partner in the provincial government, decided not to extend support to him owing to its demands including the release of the party’s founder Resham Chaudhary who is serving a jail term on the charge of murder.

NUP, an emerging party in Nepal won local, provincial and federal elections by cashing in on the sentiments of ethnic Tharu community which has a sizable population in the province.

The disgruntled NUP is also a partner in the seven-party ruling alliance at the Center which voted Prachanda to become the prime minister in December last year. However, the party has refused to be part of the new government unless its demands are addressed. The NUP maintains three seats in the Federal Parliament while it is the fourth largest force with seven seats in the 53-member strong provincial assembly.

With NUP’s decision not to back UML’s Chief Minister Rawal during the vote of confidence in the provincial assembly, the ruling coalition government has collapsed barely a month after it came to power.

After the exit of Rawal, the provincial governor on Thursday appointed the provincial assembly leader of the Nepali Congress Kamal Shah as the next chief minister.



UML-Maoist rift widens

The change of guard in Sudurpaschim Province happens at a time when key partners in the ruling alliance in Kathmandu are also polarised over a number of issues including the forthcoming election for new President scheduled for March 9.

The Oli-led CPN-UML is eyeing the post of president while Prachanda’s Maoist party is looking for nominating someone else. The issue of the presidential election has further widened the rift between the Maoist and the UML, the two partners in the government.

“If the Maoist refuses to lend support to the UML candidate, the ruling alliance will eventually collapse. It is up to Prachanda to save the alliance,” a leader close to the UML Chairman Oli told India Narrative.

PM Prachanda has already held talks with Oli, who is also the chairman of the high-level committee formed to advice the government, over the issue of the president. However, the duo is yet to arrive at a consensus.

Meanwhile, a leader of the Maoist party says Congress party may support the Maoists if the UML withdraws support from the government over the issue of the president.

“In that case, the old Maoist-Congress democratic alliance could be revived and Prachanda could continue as the prime minister with the support of the Congress, Madhav Kumar Nepal-led Unified Socialist and Madhesi parties,” the leader told India Narrative on Friday.

The ruling alliance is embroiled with growing mistrust among the partners in the government. The RSP, a key ally of PM Prachanda, recently quit the government over party chairman Ravi Lamichhane’s dual citizenship issue. The party may withdraw its support to the government anytime soon.

Madhesi parties unhappy with Oli and Prachanda

Two Madhesi parties Janamat Party and Janata Samajbadi Party, who are also the partners in the seven-member ruling alliance, are also disappointed with Oli and Prachanda over the issue of power-sharing. According to multiple sources, they are also staking claim for the post of president and vice president.

CK Raut’s Janamat Party joined the government with its reservations while Janata Samajbadi Party led by Upendra Yadav is yet to join the government despite being partner of the ruling coalition. The Nagarik Unmukti Party, which also extended support to Prachanda, is further annoyed with the Prime Minister after the recent arrest of its lawmaker.

If the ruling alliance fails to pick its common candidate for the post of country’s president, the alliance may see its downfall, resulting in yet another bout of political instability in Nepal.

(Santosh Ghimire is India Narrative’s Nepal correspondent based in Kathmandu)

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

ALSO READ: India’s Foreign Secretary due in Nepal

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India’s Foreign Secretary due in Nepal

Vinay Mohan Kwatra. (Photo: twitter@SKEMA_BS)

The Indian diplomat will also call on President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Dahal, former Prime Ministers Sher Bahadur Deuba and KP Sharma Oli….reports Asian Lite News

New Delhi and Kathmandu have jointly announced the upcoming visit of India’s Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra to Nepal on February 13.

In a statement on Friday, the Foreign Ministry in Kathmandu said Kwatra’s two-day visit comes on the invitation of his Nepalese counterpart Bharat Raj Paudyal.

This will be first high-level visit from India after the Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal assumed office on December 25 last year.

According to the statement, Kwatra and Paudyal will review the status of India-funded projects in Nepal as well as discuss various matters of bilateral cooperation such as connectivity, power trade, agriculture, health and culture.

Nepal india

The Indian diplomat will also call on President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Dahal, former Prime Ministers Sher Bahadur Deuba and KP Sharma Oli.

He is expected to handover an invitation to Dahal to visit India.

On its part, the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi said that this will be the Foreign Secretary’s first stand alone visit since he assumed office in May 2022.

In a statement, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said that this will be the first stand alone visit of the Foreign Secretary to Nepal since he assumed charge. He was appointed foreign secretary in April last year.

“The visit is in keeping with the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between the two countries and the priority India attaches to its relations with Nepal under its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.

“During the visit, the two Foreign Secretaries will hold discussions on the entire range of multifaceted cooperation between India and Nepal.

“India has historical and civilizational linkages with Nepal, and bilateral cooperation between the two countries has strengthened in the recent years, with several major infrastructure and cross-border connectivity projects completed with India’s assistance.

“The visit will be an opportunity to further advance our bilateral ties,” said the Ministry statement.

ALSO READ: Biden invites Nepal PM for conference

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Biden invites Nepal PM for conference

Former Prime minister of Nepal Pushpa Kamal Dahal. (File Photo: IANS)

Biden hosted the first Summit for Democracy in 2021 December in which Nepal’s former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba joined virtually…reports Asian Lite News

The United States has invited Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda to the Summit for Democracy to be hosted by President Joe Biden in late March.

Samantha Power, administrator of the USAID, who paid a visit to Kathmandu on Tuesday and Wednesday, told a media briefing that Prachanda has been invited to the second Summit for Democracy which is taking place on March 29 and 30 both virtually and physically.

Biden hosted the first Summit for Democracy in 2021 December in which Nepal’s former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba joined virtually. The US side hopes Nepal’s top leadership will participate in the summit at least virtually, if not physically.

Power said that the US side looks forward to Prime Minister Prachanda’s participation in the summit.

“The invitation has been extended to Prime Minister Prachanda,” said Power adding, “This gives an opportunity to the prime minister to reinforce and continue what the former prime minister had committed to. Prachanda will also get to talk about his plans to strengthen the democratic process and rule of law.”

The first Summit for Democracy, which was viewed by China and Russia as anti-communist US-led club, witnessed the participation of 100 governments in which they made nearly 750 commitments to advance democracy, fight corruption, and counter authoritarianism.

“Building on the first Summit for Democracy held in December 2021, this gathering will highlight how democracies deliver for their citizens and are best equipped to address the world’s most pressing challenges,” the State Department said on its official website.

Power, who met PM Prachanda and Deputy Prime Minister Bishnu Poudel on Wednesday and Foreign Minister Bimala Rai Paudyal on Tuesday, said that her meetings with the Nepali leadership largely focused on wide-ranging issues including strengthening democracy, institutionalising the federal system and impact of climate change on Nepali farmers.

“I had a very productive meeting with the prime minister, where we committed to fostering democracy, completing the remaining task of the peace process and his ambitious reform plan,” she said.

Prachanda and Power also discussed bringing more foreign investment in Nepal by relaxing legal and taxation provisions, as well as promotion of entrepreneurship, agriculture, tourism and clean energy, according to her.

Power is the highest level US official to visit Kathmandu after the formation of a new communist-dominated government in Nepal on December 25 last year. As the US and China jostle for influence in Nepal, the US side has stepped up its engagements with Nepal of late.

Power, who once served as the US Permanent Representative to the United Nations, argued that her country’s ongoing support to Nepal is aimed at protecting the country’s sovereignty and independence.

“I think of the depth, links and scope of our enduring friendship and partnership between people of the two nations. Geopolitics was there during the Cold War and it is there now. But our focus is work. We do partnerships for the well-being of Nepali farmers, and building schools and health centres. We will also focus on your efforts to build back better. All these contributions we make in Nepal are not a product of geopolitical dynamics. These are the products of decade long partnership and friendship,” she said.

The US official also admitted that Washington’s  engagements across the globe including in Nepal have been questioned. “It is largely due to misinformation. US officials are often questioned about the objective of US engagements and people get confused,” she said.

Power’s visit is taking place at a time when the United States has renewed its interests in South Asia, primarily to counter an aggressive China which has also poured significant investments in smaller South Asian nations including Nepal.

There have been a flurry of visits from the US to Nepal in recent weeks, indicating that the Biden administration wants to engage with the new China-friendly government to ensure that the US geo-strategic interests in the Himalayan region are not compromised, analysts said.

She further said,“We care about the Nepali people for their own sake. We are supporting Nepal in its aim to be a middle-income country.”

Power argued that the US is partnering with Nepal and respecting its sovereignty.

“We respect what we are partnering with Nepal but we support the Nepali-led development process. Our concerns and commitments are for the sake of Nepali people so we have been here for the past 75 years,” she said.

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US steps up engagement with Nepal

Many in Nepal still view the United States as their “distant neighbour”. Nepal and the United States established diplomatic ties back in 1948 in the midst of Cold War….writes Santosh Ghimire

A senior United States official arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday as Washington stepped up its engagement with the communist-dominated new government that came to power barely seven weeks ago.

Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Samantha Power landed in the Nepali capital to hold high-level talks including Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Deputy Prime Minister Bishnu Poudel and Foreign Minister Bimala Rai Paudyal.

Apart from that she will also be holding meetings with civil rights groups and taking part in USAID-funded projects in Nepal.

The visit comes a week after US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland visited Kathmandu who encouraged Nepali leadership to be extra cautious while dealing with China and India on the economic front. However, she said that her country welcomes Nepal’s good ties with its both immediate neighbours.

Power’s visit is taking place at a time when the United States has renewed its interests in South Asia, primarily to counter an aggressive China which has also poured significant investments in smaller South Asian nations including Nepal.

There have been flurry of visits from the US to Nepal in recent weeks, indicating that the Biden administration wants to engage with the news China-friendly government to ensure that the US geo-strategic interests in the Himalayan region are not compromised, observers say.

After Power’s trip, another US high-ranking official is visiting Nepal in mid- February. According to sources, Afreen Akhter, deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs (SCA) for Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and the Maldives, as well as the Office of Security and Transnational Affairs, is visiting Nepal.

“Tentatively she is expected to be here in mid-February, but exact dates are being worked out,” an official at Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told India Narrative.

A senior Nepali official said that they are well aware of Washington’s strategic ambitions in Nepal.

“Big powers have their own geostrategic ambitions. For example, the US has come up with its Indo Pacific Strategy (IPS) to contain China militarily while China is pushing for the Global Security Initiative (GSI) to counterbalance it. We will not be cajoled by the US-China geopolitical competition at all. We will pursue our independent foreign policy,” the official told India Narrative on Tuesday.

Many in Nepal still view the United States as their “distant neighbour”. Nepal and the United States established diplomatic ties back in 1948 in the midst of Cold War.



Power’s visit, highest level after 2002

Power is the highest level official of the United States to come to Nepal after the former US Secretary of State Colin Powell visited Kathmandu in 2002 when the country’s armed conflict was at its peak.

Power holds a Cabinet rank in the US order of precedence. She is the first USAID Administrator to be a member of the National Security Council, where she is mandated to ensure that development plays a critical role in America’s responses to a range of economic, humanitarian, and geopolitical issues.

Prior to joining the Biden-Harris Administration, Power was the Anna Lindh Professor of the Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and the William D. Zabel Professor of Practice in Human Rights at Harvard Law School. From 2013 to 2017, Power served in the Obama-Biden Administration as the 28th US Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

“While there, Administrator Power will meet with civil society leaders, community groups, students, businesses, and government officials to discuss Nepal’s efforts and achievements in becoming a more democratic, prosperous, inclusive, and resilient country,” read the press statement issued by the USAID headquarters ahead of her visit.

During the visit, the USAID Administrator Power will underscore the United States’ enduring, more than 75-year partnership with the government and people of Nepal, according to the statement.

She will highlight USAID’s commitment to increasing our engagement with Nepal and its new government.

“Administrator Power will announce new efforts to build momentum to strengthen democratic gains in federalism, social inclusion, civil society, and media freedom,” the USAID added.

During her visit to Kathmandu, the two countries are expected to discuss the implementation of several projects being implemented by the USAID in partnership with the Nepali government.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

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Nepal’s defence minister due in India

Upreti is visiting New Delhi from February 13 to 17 at the official invitation of his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh…reports Santosh Ghimire

In a bid to further deepen bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries, Nepal’s Defence Minister Hari Prasad Upreti will be paying an official visit to India next week, officials said here on Tuesday.

Upreti is visiting New Delhi from February 13 to 17 at the official invitation of his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh. This is the maiden foreign visit of the defence minister after he assumed the office on January 17. Upreti’s visit will mark the first high-level exchange between Nepal and India after the Prachanda government took office following elections.

A cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda approved the defence minister’s visit to the southern neighbour, according to Rekha Sharma, the government spokesperson who is also the Minister for Information and Communications.

“This visit is expected to strengthen our bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries,” the government spokesperson said here.

During the visit, the two sides will discuss various aspects of bilateral defence cooperation including logistical support to the Nepali Army, according to an official privy to the development. Last year, the Nepali Army requested the Indian Army for logistical support including two military helicopters.

Upreti, a leader of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (Unified Marxist Leninist), is a member of the House of Representatives from Sarlahi district.

The visit of Nepal’s defence minister to India is expected to cement defence ties as the two countries maintain wide-ranging cooperation in the defence sector.

India has remained Nepal’s major defence partner for a long time. Military exercises have been an integral part of Nepal-India defence cooperation over the years. The two have wide-ranging cooperation in the defence sector.

India has been assisting the Nepal Army in its modernisation by supplying equipment and providing training.

Assistance during disasters, joint military exercises, adventure activities and bilateral visits are other aspects of India’s defence cooperation with Nepal, according to India’s External Affairs Ministry.

As part of defence cooperation, Nepal and India hold battalion-level joint military exercises alternately in each other’s country. In September 2021, the joint training was held in Pithoragarh in the Indian State of Uttarakhand while this year’s military exercise took place in Saljhandi of Nepal.

A number of defence personnel from Nepal Army attend training courses in various Indian Army training institutions.

The two countries have been awarding each other’s Army Chief with the honorary rank of General in recognition of the mutual harmonious relationship between the two armies since 1950. Giving continuity to that decades-long tradition, Nepal’s Army Chief Prabhuram Sharma visited India in November 2021 while his Indian counterpart Manoj Pande paid a reciprocal visit in September last year.

The Gorkha connection is also one of the key aspects of Nepal-India bilateral defence cooperation.

The Gorkha regiments of the Indian Army are raised partly by recruitment from hill districts of Nepal. Currently, about 32,000 Gorkha Soldiers from Nepal are serving in the Indian Army.

In addition to Military Pension Branch in Kathmandu, there are two Pension Paying Offices at Pokhara and Dharan, and 22 District Soldier Boards in Nepal, all functioning under the Defence Wing of the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, which arrange the disbursement of pensions and organise welfare programmes for re-training, rehabilitating and assisting ex-Gorkha soldiers and their families. (India Narrative)

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Fault in engine caused Yeti Airlines crash: Black box data

Pokhara : Locals watch the wreckage of a passenger plane in Pokhara, Nepal, Sunday, Jan.15, 2023. A passenger plane with 72 people on board crashed near Pokhara International Airport in Nepal.. (Photo:IANS)

The twin-engine ATR 72-500 aircraft plummeted into a gorge as it was approaching Pokhara International Airport in the Himalayan foothills…reports Asian Lite News

The investigation committee found that the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder from the crashed Yeti Airlines ATR-72 aircraft, which killed all the 72 passengers on board on January 15 in Nepal, indicated that there was a problem in the engine.

“In ATR-72 aircraft feather means to stay inclined to 90 degrees in spite of being in a certain degree as turned by the pilots. In order to increase the speed, the pilot has to incline the propeller blade using the liver that is in the cockpit. With the propeller blade standing at 90 degrees, the plane would lose aerodynamic movement,” the committee said in a report. All 72 people including 5 Indians and 4 crew members lost their lives when a Yeti Airlines aircraft ATR-72 crashed in Pokhara of Nepal earlier last month.

The twin-engine ATR 72-500 aircraft plummeted into a gorge as it was approaching Pokhara International Airport in the Himalayan foothills. The crash site is about 1.6 km from the runway at an elevation of about 820 meters (2,700 feet).

Kathmandu Post on Sunday quoted Sudarshan Bartaula, a spokesperson of Yeti Airlines as saying that the ATR 72 Yeti airlines aircraft crashed between the old airport and the Pokhara International Airport.

After the incident, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal promised the families of the Yeti airlines plane crash victims to “expedite” the process so that they can have the bodies of the deceased soon.

The Prime Minister met the kin of those killed in the tragic crash as he was not able to go to the site at the time of the accident and assured them of accelerating the procedure.

Notably, the families and relatives are waiting for the bodies to be handed over to them at the morgue.

“PM Dahal promised the families to hand over the bodies as soon as possible expediting the procedures. The hospital can ask the government for additional resources in case they need to expedite it,” according to an official statement of the PM secretariat.

Earlier, the black box of the Yeti Airlines aircraft was handed over by the Nepal Army to Civil Aviation Authority officials.

A black box is a flight data recorder that records all flight information through a special algorithm. (ANI)

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Prachanda loses top ally as rift inside ruling coalition intensifies

A meeting of the RSP central committee held on Sunday decided to quit the government and recall the party’s ministers…writes Santosh Ghimire

In a huge setback to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), one of the key partners in the seven-party ruling alliance of Nepal, pulled out of the government on Sunday.

However, the party has decided to continue its parliamentary support to the Prachanda-led government.

A meeting of the RSP central committee held on Sunday decided to quit the government and recall the party’s ministers after Prime Minister Prachanda refused to re-appoint RSP President Rabi Lamichhane as the country’s home minister.

Earlier on Saturday, Lamichhane turned down Prachanda’s offer to take the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure instead of home ministry.

Lamichhane was serving as the home minister until Jan 27 before the country’s Supreme Court annulled his citizenship certificate on the ground that he never applied to reclaim his Nepali citizenship after renouncing his American citizenship.

With the apex court’s ruling, Lamichhane had lost his parliamentary and ministerial positions. He submitted his resignation to the prime minister on the same day.

With the exit of Lamichhane as the home minister, Prime Minister Prachanda himself is overseeing the home ministry.

Until today, Prachanda has not appointed anyone in place of Lamichhane. Speculations are rife that Prime Minister Prachanda will appoint someone else as the home minister from his own party.

Support from the RSP, the third largest force in the ruling alliance, is crucial for Prachanda as it maintains 20 seats in the 275-member strong House of Representatives.

Currently, the coalition government has a comfortable majority in parliament with the backing of 169 lawmakers. If the RSP doesn’t have Prachanda’s government it is not immediately in danger. It is because the Nepali Congress, largest party in parliament, has also lent support to Prime Minister Prachanda. But the NC is not part of the government.

(India Narrative)

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Nepal’s political shift won’t derail energy ties with India

Prime Minister Prachanda’s visit to India, which is still being worked out at the diplomatic level, is expected to give momentum to bilateral power sector cooperation, writes Santosh Ghimire

Indian and Nepali officials are set to meet later this month to push energy partnership, which is likely to continue despite the election of a new government in Nepal.

The 10th meetings of the Joint Steering Committee (JSC) at the secretary level and Joint Working Group (JWG) at the joint secretary level on Feb.17-18 will focus on expediting ongoing projects on hydropower, officials said.

“Power sector cooperation has been a strong pillar of Nepal-India partnership. The upcoming meeting will focus on joint development of generation projects in Nepal, joint development of cross-border power transmission infrastructure, power trade under respective domestic regulations and policy framework, and capacity building assistance,” Madhu Bhetuwal, a spokesperson for Nepal’s Ministry of Energy, told India Narrative.

The meetings in New Delhi are taking place after Nepal and India recently constituted a Joint Hydro Development Committee (JHDC) to further explore the development of viable hydropower projects in Nepal with particular focus on storage projects. The JHDC has five members on each side.

In August last year, the Investment Board of Nepal signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India’s National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) Limited to develop the West Seti and Seti River (SR6) projects.  This was earlier being developed by China.

During the meeting, Nepal is expected to propose construction of  two new Nepal-India cross-border transmission lines, officials familiar with the matter said.

The first is a 400kV transmission line connecting Nepal’s Duhabi city with Purnia of the Indian State of Bihar. The second one is a 400kV transmission line connecting Nepal’s New Lamki (Dodhara) with India’s Bareli.

Nepal is rich in water resources with a combined potential to generate more than 42,000 hydroelectric power, according to various studies.

There are several other India-aided projects including the 900 MW Arun-3 hydroelectric project which are under construction.

Providing a long-term vision on energy cooperation, “India-Nepal Joint Vision Statement on Power Sector Cooperation” was issued during former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s official visit to India in April 2022.

During his visit, Deuba invited Indian companies to invest in the development, construction and operation of viable renewable power projects, including in the Hydropower sector in Nepal, focusing on storage-type projects.

The new government led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda which came to power in December last year, is also keen to intensify power sector cooperation with India in a similar fashion, sources said.

“Irrespective of change of guard in Kathmandu, ongoing power sector cooperation between Nepal and India will go smoothly,” said sources.

Prime Minister Prachanda’s visit to India, which is still being worked out at the diplomatic level, is expected to give momentum to bilateral power sector cooperation.

Power trade on agenda

During the upcoming meetings of JST and JWG, Nepali and Indian officials will discuss various issues that have arisen in the hydropower projects including Arun II  that are currently being built by the Indian companies.

The issue of ongoing power trade between the two countries will also be figured during the meeting, the spokesperson said. Nepal generated a good income last year by selling its surplus electricity to India, contributing to reducing the Himalayan country’s ballooning trade deficit.

As per the figures provided by Nepal Electricity Authority, Nepal sold electricity worth 11.16 billion (Nepali rupees) to India starting June last year.  NEA has a plan to sell electricity worth 16 billion (Nepali rupees) in the current fiscal year 2022/23 after resuming export in June next year.

(India Narrative)

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US to invest $1 billion in Nepal, seeks plans to finalise MCC

Visiting senior US officials also extended a hand to help Nepal in investigating and further strengthening the cyber security of the Himalayan Nation….reports Asian Lite News

The United States plans to invest about one billion US Dollars in Nepal, the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs of the United States, Victoria Nuland said on Monday during her visit to the Himalayan Nation.

She is the first high-level foreign dignitary to visit Nepal post-new government formation in Nepal, Nuland further pointed out the investment plans in a press meeting held at Patan in Lalitpur. “This time we were very proud and pleased to be able to talk about all of our projects together for the future. The United States plan to invest over a billion dollar in Nepal over the next five years in everything from green energy, and the electrification of this country to small and medium-sized enterprise particularly investing in women-led business and those led by under-represented groups.”

Nuland landed in Nepal on Sunday evening and held a meeting with Nepal’s newly elected Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Afterwards, Nuland held a meeting with opposition party President Sher Bahadur Deuba from the Nepali Congress and KP Sharma Oli from the Communist Party of Nepal- Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML).

Nuland also paid a courtesy call to Nepal’s lately appointed Foreign Minister Bimala Rai Paudel. “During the course of those meetings we of course talked about the next steps in finalizing our Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Project in the field of clean energy. We talked about the plan of government to submit the legislation to the parliament to finalize the transitional justice process, what the United States, might be able to do to support the implementation thereafter,” Nuland briefed media.

When asked about the regional tension ongoing across the globe, Undersecretary Nuland replied, “Everything we do here in Nepal is transparent and open for everyone to see. For example, the Millennium Corporation Challenge (MCC), all of the aspects of it are available on the MCC website. When we talk to the government here, we say have partnerships, have economic relationships with all of your neighbours. But just ensure when you do that, you’re protecting your own sovereignty that the deals you’re cutting are good for Nepal and that there is no corruption in them and that everything is transparent and open. So, we welcome Nepal of having good relations with its neighbours. In fact, we obviously have a very strong relationship with India that you saw with regard to China President Biden and President Xi Jin Ping sat down together in November and we will have more engagement with China in the coming weeks. It’s not about one or the other, it is about what is good for Nepali democracy and prosperity. That is obviously your choice.”

Furthermore, visiting senior US officials also extended a hand to help Nepal in investigating and further strengthening the cyber security of the Himalayan Nation. Nepal late last week faced a cyber-attack which shut the International airport for about 5 hours and took down all the government sites.

“Today in the context of the cyber-attack that you (Nepal) faced in the last couple of days, the United States has strong partnerships around the world in trying to strengthen cyber security and cyber resilience with its partners. So I offer to the Government of Nepal that if you are interested, as we have governments from Germany to Japan to across America, we are pleased to come and bring some of our technical specialists to look at what happened here and help you strengthen your systems,” Nuland said.

Sworn in as Under Secretary for Political Affairs in April 2021, Nuland, a U.S. diplomat for 33 years, served as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs from September 2013 until January 2017 under US President Barak Obama and Secretary John Kerry.

She was State Department Spokesperson during Secretary Hillary Clinton’s tenure, and U.S. Ambassador to NATO during President George W. Bush’s second term, 2005-2008. Nuland served as Special Envoy and chief negotiator on the Treaty on Conventional Arms Control in Europe from 2010-2011, and as Deputy National Security Advisor to Vice President Cheney from 2003-2005.

In addition to two tours at NATO in Brussels, she has served overseas in Russia, China and Mongolia, and in various assignments at the State Department in Washington.

Nuland currently is on visit to Nepal, India, Sri Lanka and Qatar. During her visit to India, Nuland will lead the US-India annual Foreign Office Consultations which cover the full range of bilateral, regional, and global issues and will also meet with young tech leaders, the US Department of State said in an official statement.

The Under Secretary, on reaching Sri Lanka will mark the 75th anniversary of US-Sri Lanka relations and offer continued US support for Sri Lanka’s efforts to stabilize the economy, protect human rights, and promote reconciliation, the official release added.

Finally, the Under Secretary will discuss global issues in Qatar as part of the US-Qatar Strategic Dialogue.

“She will also meet with counterparts to discuss Qatar’s critical support for the relocation of Afghans with ties to the US, as well as our bilateral agreement to protect US interests in Afghanistan,” the US State Department press release added. (ANI)

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