New Delhi (Sputnik) — With Chinese plans to run a freight train to Nepal on the drawing board, India is accelerating work on its pending projects in the Himalayan nation with a series of high level meetings. The latest in the heightened interactions between the two countries will be the India-Nepal Joint Commission that is headed by the Foreign Ministers. This meeting will take place against the backdrop of two summit meetings in as many months between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Pushpa Kamal Dahal `Prachanda’.
The interaction was hastened after `Prachanda’ became Prime Minister of Nepal. Pushpa Kamal Dahal 's work includes an unprecedented trilateral meeting with Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinpeng on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Goa earlier this month. `Prachanda’s’ intent was to signal Nepal’s interest in keeping both its giant neighbors simultaneously engaged. This contrasts with his predecessor K P Oli tilting towards China while ties with India had been affected.
Nepali Foreign Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat has already arrived in India on a three-day visit. The Indian side will be led by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. The India-Nepal Joint Commission meeting will review the implementation of existing projects between the two countries
The pending projects include a train to Nepal on which there has been no recorded progress since the deal was signed five years back. China too has announced plans to build a railway line to Nepal as part of its One Belt One Road initiative.
