India will undertake the development of the Pashupatinath riverfront in Kathmandu  along with the restoration of Bhandarkhal Garden in Patan Nagar in Nepal as part of its grant assistance to develop cultural heritage sites in Nepal. 

Earlier, India has developed sanitation facilities in the Pashupatinath Temple complex.  

The decision came during the Sixth Nepal-India Joint Commission Meeting held on Friday in New Delhi. The meeting was co-chaired by Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Nepali Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali. In the meeting, issues related to political and security, trade, border, and connectivity, among others, were discussed to further enhance the bilateral cooperation.

Significantly, this is also the first high-level engagement between the two countries since the political crisis erupted in Nepal after Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli dissolved the lower house on 20 December last year. However, India called the issue an “internal matter” of Nepal.

In the meeting, Nepal also requested India for an early provision of Covid-10 vaccines.

“Nepal congratulated India on the remarkable success in (the) production of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines in India and requested for early provision of vaccines to Nepal,” read a statement released by the Indian External Affairs Ministry.

On cross-border movement of people and goods, the two sides noted the success of two recently inaugurated Integrated Check Posts at Birganj and Biratnagar. A similar third crossing post is under construction on the Nepal side, and India would soon begin construction on the same on its side.

Furthermore, the two countries also held discussions on operating procedures for starting cross-border passenger train service. India and Nepal just completed a cross-border rail link connecting Jaynagar in Bihar to Kurtha, Nepal via Janakpur. The discussion on a second rail line, the Raxual- Kathmandu broad gauge line, was also held in the meeting.

To reduce the logistics cost of petroleum products to Nepal, the expansion of Petroleum pipeline lines was also discussed in the meeting. The Seventh Nepal-India Joint Commission meeting will be held in Nepal at a mutually agreed time, India said in the statement. 

Significantly, the ties between the two nations had earlier nosedived when border controversy erupted between the two nations in 2019. Later in 2020, two sides made concentrated efforts to repair the damaged ties.

The icebreaker came in form of a visit by the chief of India’s external intelligence agency (R&AW) last year. The visit was soon followed by the Indian army chief and then by Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla to Nepal.