Nepal favours talks to resolve border issue with India; wants 'good ties' with China too

Nepal Foreign Minister who is on a three-day visit to India on Friday pitched for talks between New Delhi and Kathmandu to resolve the pending boundary issue. Pradeep Kumar Gyawali also sought an early review of the bilateral peace and friendship treaty of 1950 and flagged concerns over his country's trade deficit with India.

'Boundary issue will be resolved through talks'

In an address at the Indian Council of World Affairs, he said Nepal wants to take the relations with India to the next level, but at the same time added, "We should be mindful equally that healthy relations require continuous nurturing, creative thinking, promptness and readiness to understand each other in changing dynamics."

Referring to the boundary dispute, the Nepalese Foreign Minister said finding a solution to it will help instil a greater degree of trust and confidence in bilateral ties. "While both sides have agreed to resolve the boundary question through talks, we have also shown wisdom that despite the difference in one area, the momentum of our overall engagements is continued," he said.

"We are also mindful that we should not let any outstanding issue between us be there forever and become irritant in an otherwise friendly relationship," he said.

Gyawali also held wide-ranging talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday. Nepalese diplomatic sources told PTI that the boundary issue figured in a one-on-one meeting between the two Foreign Ministers. Ties between India and Nepal came under severe strain after Nepal last year published a new political map that showed the three Indian territories - Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipulekh - as part of Nepal.

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'We never compare our relations': Nepal Foreign Minister

Pradeep Kumar Gyawali also said that Nepal has maintained good relations with India and China and ensured its soil is not misused for "illegitimate interests" of any neighbouring country. "What I can just say is that Nepal has always maintained good relations with our both neighbours. We never compare our relations with our friends. We have ensured that our soil won't be misused for the illegitimate interest of any neighbouring country," he said.

He said Nepal's location between the two biggest markets of the world was an opportunity and the country is benefitted by the fast economic growth of the two neighbours. "That is why we are strengthening our relations with our neighbouring countries, but we never compare our relations," he said.

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