Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal has said that the Government of Nepal was ready to further strengthen and reset ties between Nepal and India.
Minister Khanal, who is in New Delhi for his formal visit to India at the invitation of Minister of External Affairs of India Dr S. Jaishankar, told the Indian channel NDTV that Nepal was ready to further strengthen the multidimensional relations between Nepal and India.
"We wanted to be very conscious about how we deal internationally so that our relationships are based on facts, based on evidence and not based on emotions," he said.
Saying that Nepal and India share open borders, he stated the two countries have internalized each other's security concerns, adding that our cordial relations should be further expanded.
According to NDTV, Minister Khanal called for India's cooperation in all sectors, and expected assistance, investment and cooperation in the areas of trade, energy, infrastructure, education, health, technology and connectivity networks.
Minister Khanal said that energy tops the cooperation list between Nepal and India, adding that Nepal, endowed with enormous hydropower potential, wants to move beyond a piecemeal, project-by-project approach toward a comprehensive sectoral framework.
"We have built a really good collaboration on the energy sector over the last few years, but we think there are ways to improve," Khanal added.
He stated that a tripartite agreement involving India, Nepal and Bangladesh could allow Nepali green energy to flow to Dhaka using Indian transmission infrastructure.
Likewise, Minister Khanal stated connectivity as the second priority. He said that Nepal's connectivity priorities include rail links between Janakpur and Ayodhya, new air connections through Bhairahawa and Pokhara airports, and road infrastructure upgrades.
Similarly, Minister Khanal said that inspirations were achieved to uplift our mutual relations from the grand welcome from the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian government to Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane during his recent visit.
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