India and Nepal today committed that they will "not allow" their territory to be used against each other and also agreed to set up an oversight mechanism to review the progress of economic and development projects on regular basis.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart Pushpa Kamal Dahal earlier held talks on several areas of partnership between the two countries.
In a joint statement issued by the two sides later, they gave various details related to strengthening of ties.
"They stressed the need to ensure that the open border, which has facilitated economic interaction and movement of people and goods on both sides of the border and has been a unique feature of India-Nepal bilateral ties, is not allowed to be misused by unscrupulous elements posing security threats to either side," it said.
The Nepali side also reiterated its support for India's candidature for permanent membership of the UN Security Council.
"Both sides also agreed to set up an oversight mechanism comprising senior officials from the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu and the Government of Nepal, which will review progress together with respective project implementing agencies/developers of ongoing economic and development projects on a regular basis, and take necessary steps to expedite their implementation," it said.
The Prime Minister of Nepal shared with his Indian counterpart the efforts made by the present government to take all sections of Nepali society on board for effective implementation of the constitution.
"The Prime Minister of Nepal thanked the government and people of India for their goodwill, support and solidarity in Nepal's peace process," it said, adding, "Both sides agreed to hold the next session of the India-Nepal Joint Commission in 2016."
The two Prime Ministers stressed on the need for early development of infrastructure at integrated check posts (ICPs) to facilitate smooth and faster movement of people and goods.
"They noted with satisfaction the progress in construction of ICPs at Raxaul and Jogbani, and agreed that work on the Raxaul-Birgunj ICP project will be expedited with the objective of completing it by December," the joint statement said.
The two Prime Ministers reviewed the progress made in implementation of the two ongoing India-Nepal cross-border rail-link projects and agreed that both sides will take further measures necessary for expeditious completion of both the projects.
Both sides agreed that steps will be initiated to facilitate development of three other agreed cross-border rail-link projects so that the land acquisition can commence on the Nepali side.
"The two Prime Ministers directed the officials to
expedite the construction of sub-station at Dhalkebar so that the Muzaffarpur-Dhalkebar transmission line can be operated at its full capacity as planned," the joint statement said.
"The two Prime Ministers expressed satisfaction that both countries are engaged in preparation of a Master Plan for cross-border interconnection for the period until 2035 and Action Plan on power trade until 2025," it said.
The two sides also reviewed progress of other major hydro-power projects, Pancheshwar, Upper Karnali and Arun-III, and noted that various issues be addressed expeditiously to implement the projects in a time-bound manner so that their benefits start accruing to people at the earliest.
"It was decided to expedite finalisation of the Detailed Project Report of the Pancheshwar multi-purpose project. It was agreed that both sides will continue to take measures to operationalise the Power Trade Agreement signed in 2014.
"Both sides agreed to discuss all water resources cooperation related matters such as inundation and flood management, irrigation matters and other major projects, at the next meeting of the Joint Committee on Water Resources at Secretary level, to be convened at an early date," it said.
Modi and Dahal welcomed the signing of MOU for building Raxaul-Amlekhgunj petroleum pipeline in August 2015 and directed that construction work be undertaken expeditiously.
"Both the Prime Ministers expressed satisfaction at the utilisation of the two Lines of Credit of USD 100 million and USD 250 million for development of roads and power infrastructure in Nepal," it said.
They welcomed the allocation of USD 200 million for irrigation projects, and USD 330 million for development of roads and Mahakali bridge from the Line of Credit of USD 550 million.
The Nepal Prime Minister extended an invitation to his counterpart to pay an official visit to Nepal which Modi accepted. The date will be finalised through diplomatic channels, it said.
"The two Prime Ministers expressed satisfaction at the performance of the Indian Joint Ventures in Nepal and emphasised the need for channelising more Indian investments into Nepal according to its development priorities," it said.
"The two Prime Ministers welcomed the commencement of work for construction of a dharmashala at Pashupatinath area. The MOU between the Pashupati Area Development Trust and the Archaeological Survey of India for reconstruction and renovation of the monuments at the Pashupatinath Area will be finalised expeditiously," the statement said.
The two sides stressed on the need for "taking forward the cooperation" in the fields of tourism and ayurvedic system of healthcare.
In this regard, both sides will take steps to fully implement the MOUs on cooperation in traditional medicine and on tourism cooperation, including development of tourism in the form of Buddhist and Hindu pilgrim circuits.
