New Delhi: India and Nepal share a "special" relationship and there is an opportunity to "decisively" shift the engagement to realise its full potential, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday during a meeting with his Nepalese counterpart Shishir Khanal.
Khanal kicked off a three-day trip to New Delhi on Friday to strengthen bilateral ties, a visit overshadowed by a raging controversy triggered by Nepalese Prime Minister Balendra Shah's recent remarks on the boundary row between the two sides.
In his comments at the meeting with Jaishankar, Khanal said Nepal accords "highest priority" to its relationship with India and the Shah-led government is ready to engage "substantively and purposefully" with New Delhi.
"We carry no old baggage and have only firm resolve for a genuinely transformative relationship with our close neighbour and the most important partner," he said.
Nepal is important for India in the context of its overall strategic interests in the region, and leaders of the two countries have often noted the age-old "Roti Beti" relationship.
Jaishankar, delving into close the bilateral relations, reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "sentiment regarding India's commitment to working with Nepal for mutual prosperity, progress and well-being of the two countries".
"India and Nepal share a very special relationship, one which is built on a strong foundation of vibrant people-to-people ties, cross-border connect and shared cultural and religious traditions," he said.
"It is anchored by shared trust, goodwill, and mutual benefit. And our bilateral ties have steadily developed in areas like trade, commerce, investments, energy, development cooperation, education, disaster response, and culture," he added.
Jaishankar said there is an opportunity to also take forward the ties in newer domains like startups, artificial intelligence, information technology and renewable energy.
"There are strong complementarities between the objectives outlined by your government and the initiatives that India has taken in the neighbourhood," he said.
"I want today to very clearly and strongly send a message of collaboration and cooperation. We believe that today there is an opportunity to decisively shift the trajectory of India-Nepal relations and to realise the full potential of our ties," he noted.
Jaishankar said both sides collaborate closely to maintain security "along our long and uniquely open border".
"Our two countries have always stood by each other in times of need. In the wake of the ongoing crisis in West Asia, we have ensured uninterrupted fuel supplies to Nepal," he said.
Late last month, Nepalese Prime Minister Shah sought involvement of China and the UK to address the long-standing border dispute between India and Nepal.
Days later, New Delhi categorically rejected any role for third parties to resolve its boundary row with Nepal, saying the two countries have an established bilateral mechanism to deal with all aspects of the border issue. PTI
