Trade, transit and energy top agenda for Nepal PM’s India visit

The inauguration of some railway facilities and forward movement on transit power trade with Bangladesh are expected to be among the key outcomes of Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s four-day visit to India that began on Wednesday.

Dahal, who arrived in New Delhi for his first trip since becoming prime minister last December, is also expected to present a wish list to the Indian side, including the opening of more air routes to Indian cities and greater cooperation in the power sector, people familiar with the matter said.

Several agreements are expected to be signed when Dahal holds talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Thursday. Dahal is expected to meet President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, external affairs minister S Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.

Dahal will visit Indore in Madhya Pradesh on June 2 to study the city’s cleanliness and waste management initiatives before returning home the following day.

Dahal and Modi are expected to remotely inaugurate a railway yard at Biratnagar in Nepal and the Jaynagar-Janakpur rail link that has been expanded to Bijalpura, the people said. The Nepalese side is expected to press India for the opening of new air routes, specifically new entry points for international flights, they said.

The two sides are also expected to make forward movement on the issue of transit power trade by Nepal via Indian territory, especially the sale of power to Bangladesh, the people said. Some understandings and agreements in the field of energy are expected to be finalised during the talks on Thursday.

“One of the key focus areas will be deepening power sector cooperation through new initiatives. Nepal has been exporting more than 450 MW of electricity to India,” one of the people cited above said.

Indian companies have shown interest in developing hydropower projects in Nepal. India was the partner country for Nepal’s Power Summit in April and there was strong participation by Indian firms in the event.

Nepal and Bangladesh have been pressing India to allow transit power trade. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina raised the issue of the import of power from Nepal and Bhutan through India while visiting New Delhi last September. The issue also figured in Nepal foreign minister Narayan Prakash Saud’s visit to Dhaka in mid-May, when he urged Bangladeshi firms to invest in his country’s hydropower sector.

Dahal said ahead of his departure that he will try to secure a stable market for electricity produced in Nepal. “As there was no big market for electricity, we could not produce more power and this has deterred big investors from coming to Nepal… History will remember us if we can open an electricity trade route with Bangladesh,” Dahal was quoted as saying by The Kathmandu Post.

Saud also told a news conference on Tuesday that Nepal will seek “India’s permission for energy trade with Bangladesh”.

Saud said Nepal is keen to amend and consolidate an existing transit treaty. “We have an open border with India and we are doing trade with third countries and China via Indian ports and territory, so we need to incorporate some new provisions in the transit treaty,” he said.

The meeting between the two prime ministers will be an opportunity to discuss multi-dimensional economic, energy and infrastructure connectivity, and to review the development partnership. India is pursuing several large infrastructure projects in Nepal, such as Arun III hydropower project, Gorakhpur-Butwal 400 kV cross-border line, and the integrated check posts at Nepalgunj-Rupaidiha and Bhairahawa-Sunauli.