India-Nepal jointly launch 3rd integrated check post, aim to boost trade & connectivity

In a bid to boost connectivity and enhance people-to-people trade ties, India and Nepal on Thursday launched the construction of a Rs 147.12 crore integrated check post (ICP) at Nepalgunj. This development comes weeks ahead of a visit to Kathmandu by foreign secretary Harsh Shringla to take forward bilateral ties.

The Indian embassy in an official statement said that Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Nepali Minister for Urban Development Krishna Gopal Shrestha witnessed the ground-breaking ceremony to mark the beginning of the construction of an Integrated Check Post. Further, the MEA said that India is building Integrated Check Posts on either side of the Indo-Nepal border to systematise the movement of cross-border cargo trucks.

"Government of India is building Integrated Check Posts on either side of the Indo-Nepal border to systematize the movement of cross-border cargo trucks between the two countries by bringing customs and immigration facilities under one roof. ICPs at Birgunj and Biratnagar were jointly inaugurated and operationalized in April 2018 and January 2020 respectively by Prime Ministers of India and Nepal," MEA said.

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'Result of coordinated relations'

Further, Krishna Gopal Shrestha said that the Integrated Check Post being built in Nepalgunj will improve the flow of goods and services between India and Nepal and facilitate the flow of people between the two countries,

"Nepalgunj (Integrated) Check Post is a result of a modernized form of customs and immigration of two closest neighbours. It also is the result of coordinated relations between India and Nepal which has gone in the long run and also acts as an example," Shrestha said.

During the ceremony, Piyush Goyal also announced that India will take up the construction of a fourth ICP at Bhairahawa in Nepal under Indian funding.

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Meanwhile, a similar facility is being built on the Indian side in Rupaidiha by the Lands Ports Authority of India and the work on the facility started in May this year and over 10 per cent of construction work has been completed.

The Department of Urban Development, under the Ministry of Urban Development of Nepal, will facilitate the construction of ICP at Nepalgunj on the ground.

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