press trust of india
New Delhi, August 24: Nepal Thursday assured India that it would not allow any activity against its “friendly neighbour”, as the two sides signed eight pacts, including on cooperation in countering drug trafficking and post-earthquake reconstruction in the Himalayan nation.
After comprehensive talks with his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid emphasis on closer cooperation between the security and defence forces of the two countries in order to avoid misuse of the open border between India and Nepal.
“Defence ties and assistance in security is an important aspect of our partnership. Our defence interests are also dependent and connected to each other,” Modi said at a joint press briefing after the talks. Deuba gave an assurance of “every support, every help and cooperation”. “As you (Modi) mentioned that Nepal has an open border… I would like to assure you that Nepal will never allow any activity against friendly neighbour India and there will be every support, every help and cooperation from our side,” Deuba said.
Acknowledging that there were “issues” in the implementation of the Constitution, he expressed confidence that a Constitution “encompassing” the views of the people from all sections and ethnicities would be a reality. Modi, too, exuded confidence that Nepal would take into consideration the aspirations of all its citizens during the implementation of the Constitution.
August 21, the Nepalese parliament failed to endorse the much-awaited Constitution amendment bill to address the issues of Madhesis as the ruling coalition could not garner the two-thirds majority required for its passage. Deuba said both sides also exchanged views on regional and sub-regional cooperation using BIMSTEC (The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) and BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal Initiative) and create a “win-win” situation in various areas. The Nepalese prime minister said regular engagement at the highest political level would greatly contribute to sustaining and cementing trust between the two countries.
