Thaindian News

Kathmandu, Apr 21 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S.M Krishna on Thursday saidIndia remains committed to provide all assistance required by Nepal to set up a stable, inclusive, multi-party democracy.

In an interaction with media, Krishna said that Nepalese leadership briefed him about the internal development in Nepal and the progress being made towards completing the peace process and drafting of the new Constitution.

“I conveyed that the peace process must be completed at an early date and that it was essential to moving ahead with resolution of other political issues. I was assured by the Nepalese leadership that they recognized the crucial importance of preserving the professional integrity and apolitical nature of the Nepal Army,” he added.

He said both the President and Prime Minister of Nepal expressed deep appreciation of India’s continued support to Nepal’s peace process and emphasized that India must continue to play a supportive role for consolidation of democracy in Nepal.

Stressing that terrorism is a common threat to India and Nepal, Krishna said: “I conveyed to the Nepalese leadership that our security concerns are interlinked because of an open border.

“We are also concerned about smuggling of fake Indian currency notes (FICN) to India through Nepal. I also asked for the early formalization of the revised Extradition Treaty and the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) that have been pending for last five years as these would enable better coordination and cooperation between the security agencies of the two countries,” he added.

He said the Prime Minister assured us that Nepal would address all of India’s security concerns and would not allow Nepalese territory to be used for any anti-India activity.

“The Nepalese side also conveyed that the revised Extradition Treaty and the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty were pending approval,” he added.

Emphasising that India is the largest investor in Nepal, Krishna said: ” Indian companies are eager to do more to promote Nepal’s industrial manufacturing capabilities.

“In this context, I referred to the harassment being meted out to some of the larger Indian joint ventures in Nepal. The Government of Nepal assured us that it would look into the issues raised by Indian joint ventures.

On the issue of the Indian contract teachers in Nepal, Krishna said: ” The Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal promised to work for providing a dignified and honourable solution to the issue of contractual Indian teachers in recognition of their service to the development of human resources in Nepal.

“I reviewed the progress in areas of bilateral interest with the Nepalese leadership. We were happy to note that that the dates for the next meeting of Home Secretaries of the two countries are being finalised shortly. We also agreed that other outstanding bilateral issues could be discussed at the meeting of the two Foreign Secretaries which is to be held shortly in New Delhi,” he added. (ANI)