Kathmandu, Jan. 24: Embassy of India, Kathmandu in collaboration with Centre for South Asian Studies (CSAS), Kathmandu organized “India-Nepal Development Partnership Conclave” on Sunday. The event was organized to mark Azadi ka Amrit Mahostav (AKAM) celebrating 75 years of India’s Independence, as well as 75 years of establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Nepal.

The Conclave was jointly inaugurated by Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Chief Guest,  Prabhat Kumar, OSD (Economic Relations and Development Partnership Administration), Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India and Naveen Srivastava, Ambassador of India to Nepal.

A film highlighting 75 Development Partnership Projects by  India in Nepal in the Financial Year 2022-23 was also screened on the occasion. These projects covered multiple sectors including cross-border rail connectivity, energy connectivity, digital connectivity, disaster relief, creation of health and education infrastructure, water management etc. 48 Post-Earthquake reconstruction projects in health and education sectors spread across various earthquake-affected districts of Nepal were also inaugurated virtually on this occasion. The event was attended by senior government officials of Nepal, experts and academia from prominent think tanks as well as media.

DPM and Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha in his remarks recalled the long-standing development cooperation between India and Nepal. He noted that there is a tremendous potential for further strengthening this development cooperation in the future. Prabhat Kumar highlighted that India stands ready to work with Nepal for the prosperity and mutual benefit of the peoples of both countries. Ambassador highlighted the various aspects of the ongoing development cooperation between India and Nepal.

 Shankar Das Bairagi, Chief Secretary, Keshav Kumar Sharma , Secretary, Madhu Kumar Marasini, Commerce Secretary Kulman Ghising, MD, Nepal Electricity Authority, Ambassador Vijay Kant Karn, Executive Director, Centre for Social Inclusion and Federalism; Swarnim Wagle, Chair, Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS) and Prof. Dr. Bhola Thapa, Vice Chancellor of Kathmandu University were the prominent speakers from Nepal. From India, Prof. Sachin Chaturvedi, DG, Research and Information Systems (RIS), Sanjay Gupta, CMD, Konkan Railways Corporation Limited, N L Sharma, CMD, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVN) and Sujoy Choudhary, Director, Indian Oil Corporation Limited shared their thoughts on this occasion.

Chief Secretary, Shanker Das Bairagi in his remarks identified hydro-power export, renewal energy, railway links, modernization of agriculture, religious-cultural ties and capacity building as the prospects of future cooperation. He also highlighted that timely completion and proper utilization of created infrastructure are the key elements for project implementation in development cooperation. Other speakers in their remarks highlighted the enormous potential of digital public goods, financial connectivity, good governance, energy security and value addition in manufacturing supply chains as some of the key avenues for future development cooperation between India and Nepal.

India-Nepal Development Cooperation that began in 1951 has continued and expanded for over the past seven decades, and is today very robust, multi-faceted and multi-sectoral. The projects implemented under the Development Partnership between the two countries have been diverse in size  with geographical spread throughout Nepal.

The Conclave provided a suitable platform to exchange thoughts between the stakeholders of both the countries to further deepen India-Nepal bilateral partnership.