Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, right, shaking hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu yesterday.

AFP/Kathmandu

 

India Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday sought to secure energy deals with Nepal at the start of a visit aimed at boosting New Delhi’s influence in a neighbourhood increasingly wooed by Beijing.

In an address to Nepal’s parliament, Modi announced $1bn as a concessional line of credit to the impoverished nation as he attempted to strengthen economic and diplomatic ties between the two neighbours.

“Nepal can free India of its darkness with its electricity,” said Modi, whose government has pledged to end the country’s frequent blackouts.

“But we don’t want free electricity, we want to buy it. Just by selling electricity to India, Nepal can find a place in the developed countries of the world,” he said.

Modi told lawmakers that India and Nepal have relations as “old as the Himalayas and the Ganga”, after he arrived in Kathmandu for the first bilateral visit by an Indian prime minister in 17 years.

The right-wing nationalist has sought to shore up support with India’s neighbours since sweeping to power at national elections in May, in a bid to check China’s sway in the
region.

Modi held talks with Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala during which he pushed to revive stalled power projects including developing hydropower plants using Nepal’s abundant water resources and Indian
investment.

Earlier proposals to develop joint ventures between the two countries have faced delays due to disagreements over perceived threats to Nepalese sovereignty, allowing rival China to step into the breach.

Nepal Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat said the two leaders agreed to fastforward a long-stalled plan to develop a 900-megawatt project on Nepal’s Karnali river to provide power to both energy-starved countries.

The joint venture signed between Kathmandu and Indian infrastructure giant GMR in 2008 would be approved and signed within 45 days, Mahat told reporters.

During the bilateral talks, Modi also offered $1bn worth of concessional loans to help develop Nepal’s infrastructure, Mahat said.

“He (Modi) offered $1bn line of credit towards our infrastructure, including hydropower and roads,” he said.

They also agreed to commence work on a 6,480-megawatt hydropower plant on the Mahakali river, part of a treaty originally signed in 1996.

Although New Delhi traditionally has exerted huge influence in Nepal, Beijing has recently intensified its engagement with the Himalayan nation, pumping billions of dollars into infrastructure projects ranging from roads to
hydropower plants.

Koirala earlier greeted Modi at Kathmandu’s international airport, where he received a 19-gun salute while an army band played.

Modi will offer prayers today at the Pashupatinath temple complex, a Unesco World Heritage site near Kathmandu that attracts tens of thousands of pilgrims every year, many from India.

During his speech to parliament, Modi urged Nepal’s politicians to work together to end a prolonged deadlock that has seen the constituent assembly, which also serves as parliament, struggle to draft a new constitution for the country.

“A constitution always unites, it never divides,” Modi said.

Nepal has endured prolonged political limbo since 2006 when former rebel Maoists laid down arms and signed a peace deal, paving the way for constituent assembly polls two years later.

 

Modi unites Jeet Bahadur with his family

 

Hours after his arrival in Kathmandu on the first bilateral visit by an Indian prime minister in 17 years, Narendra Modi united Jeet Bahadur with his family members at a hotel in Kathmandu.

The meeting between Jeet Bahadur and his family members was the first task undertaken by Modi on arrival in Kathmandu on a two-day official visit.

A small function was organised at the Hyatt Regency yesterday afternoon where Jeet Bahadur’s brother and sister were present.

“Family reunion! Thanks to Narendra Modi a happy reunion for Jeet Bahadur and family,” external affairs ministry spokesperson
Sayed Akbaruddin tweeted. Jeet Bahadur has been in his care 1998. Jeet Bahadur,
who was staying with Modi till recently, has now shifted
to the university hostel
after Modi became prime minister and moved to New Delhi.

Jeet Bahadur, who enjoys wrestling and cricket, wants to pursue MBA or MBS. Currently, he is pursuing a BBA degree from Ahmedabad.