Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal has returned home after a three-day visit to India, invited by Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar. During the visit, Nepal and India engaged in discussions and reached understandings on trade, connectivity, energy partnerships, and the implementation of cross-border digital payment systems. An agreement was made to facilitate inter-country digital remittance transfers and collaboratively develop a language translation platform. Kathmandu, 7 June.
During his visit to India, Minister Khanal met with a delegation from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. He briefed journalists at Tribhuvan International Airport about the topics discussed during the meeting. He stated, “The delegations from both countries had extensive and productive discussions covering all aspects of the bilateral relationship between Nepal and India.”
Khanal informed that the talks included substantive discussions on trade and economic cooperation, connectivity, energy partnerships, water resource management, and sports. He noted that both sides expressed a commitment to further strengthen bilateral relations. Additionally, regional and international issues were also deliberated upon.
Minister Khanal disclosed that three joint declarations were made during the meeting. Notably, under a memorandum of understanding signed in 2030 between NCHL and NPCI, an agreement was reached to operate cross-border payments (P2P), enabling seamless digital remittance transfers between Nepal and India. He also mentioned a virtual handover of projects reconstructed with Indian development assistance following the earthquake in Nepal. Furthermore, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Kathmandu University School of Engineering, the Digital Public Infrastructure and Artificial Intelligence Center, and Digital India for the co-development of a national digital language translation platform.
