Nepal wants India’s uninterrupted cooperation for development

New Delhi, July 8 (IANS) Nepal on Monday pitched for India's uninterrupted cooperation and complete trust to build a road map for a "New Nepal" just the way the "New India" is being visualised through sound institutional arrangements in place.

Nepalese Ambassador Nilambar Acharya pointed out that the era of insurgency and instability at government level in his country was over.

With a stable government in place, Nepal looks forward to India building a fresh new country which ensures inclusive growth for each of its citizen, he said.

Acharya spoke about the ambition of building a "New Nepal" the way "New India" is expected to develop under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said his country looks up to India for realisation of this ambition.

"The era of insurgency and instable governments in Nepal is a thing of past and with new government in place with its fresh Constitution, the country is committed to ensuring its social and economic transformation with close cooperation from India and other neighbouring countries," the Ambassador said.

He went on to add that Nepal attaches "paramount importance" to India, given the age-old relations between the two countries.

The envoy emphasized on the trust factor which Nepal holds with regard to India and said his country expects an uninterrupted and complete cooperation from India to build the "New Nepal", particularly in view of the intensity of Nepalese traditional relationship with this country for its economic and social upliftment.

He was addressing the "Advantage Nepal Conclave: Ease of Doing Business in Nepal" organised by the PHDCCI's India-Nepal Centre (INC) in collaboration with Embassy of Nepal.

Acharya identified a host of areas for possible joint ventures between Nepal and India Inc. such as heritage tourism, power, particularly hydro, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, education and skill development.

Nirvana Chaudhary, Managing Director of Nepal's CG Corp Global and co-Chairman of Nepal-India Centre, highlighted that India is Nepal's single largest business partner and the relationship spans even to the social and political aspects.

He emphasised the need for seizing the opportunity while noting that Nepal's recent history has seen 10-year cycles of golden opportunities which keep coming up.

The bilateral trade between the two countries was $8.3 billion in 2018-19, with India's exports to Nepal being $7.8 billion and imports from Nepal being $0.5 billion. The trade surplus was to the tune of $7.3 billion.

The two-way trade is expected to cross $10 billion in the backdrop of increased sentiment for trade and investments between the two economies, according to the industry body PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI).