Transfer of power from Nepal to India to increase significantly in 2022: Shringla
Apr 02, 2022
New Delhi [India], April 2 : Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Saturday said that the transfer of power from Nepal to India will be enhanced significantly in 2022 as compared to the previous year.
Addressing a press conference, following the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Shringla said that both sides discussed the flood control issues in the context of harnessing water resources for mutual benefits and in terms of power generation, irrigation and flood control.
Shringla further said that both countries held discussions on harnessing water resources in a positive way and how to use the hydroelectric potential of these resources.
"Transfer of power between the two countries will keep taking place as a power-trade policy is in place. The power being developed in various projects in Nepal involving Indian companies and Indian investment is coming to India in a bigger way," he said.
"This year, the amount of power that will be coming to India from Nepal will be significantly enhanced over last year. There is a great deal of progress in the paradigm of projects with Indian investment in Nepal. Both the countries will benefit from this," he added.
Speaking on the Pashupatinath riverfront development project, the foreign secretary said that both sides held a general review on the water cooperation areas and expressed satisfaction with the progress in many of these areas including that of the Pashupatinath riverfront project.
India also reiterated its support to take forward such projects involving growth and development in Nepal, he added.
Shringla further informed that both sides agreed to take forward projects like the Pancheshwar multipurpose project that has the potential to benefit both countries.
The two leaders also briefly discussed the boundary dispute between India and Nepal, with an understanding that such issues need to be solved through dialogue and deliberations, and politicisation of the boundary issue needs to be avoided.
Notably, Deuba is on a three-day India visit.
The last Head of State/Head of Government-level visit from Nepal was in May 2019, when then PM KP Oli visited India for the swearing-in ceremony of PM Narendra Modi and the Union Council of Ministers. Before that PM Modi had visited Nepal in August 2018 for the 4th BIMSTEC Summit in Kathmandu, which was preceded by a State Visit to Nepal in May 2018.
PM Modi had extended a congratulatory message to Sher Bahadur Deuba soon after he won the Vote of Confidence in Nepal's Parliament. This was followed by a congratulatory telephonic conversation on 19 July 2021. The most recent meeting between PM Modi and Sher Bahadur Deuba took place on November 2, 2021, on the sidelines of COP 26 in Glasgow.
Sher Bahadur Deuba is a veteran politician of the Nepali Congress with a political career spanning over seven decades. This is Deuba's fifth tenure as PM. His first term was from September 1995 to March 1997.
He has visited India several times, both when in and out of power. This will be his fifth visit to India as PM, with the last visit being in August 2018. The previous three visits took place in 2004, 2002 and 1996.
