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The longstanding Nepal-India border dispute escalated to a new height after the Nepal government issued a new political map incorporating the disputed territories in 2019. The foreign secretary-level meeting is the only mechanism agreed upon by the two sides to deal with the boundary issues. On Sept 13, Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal held bilateral talks with his Indian counterpart Vinaya Mohan Kwatra in New Delhi. The duo discussed a wide range of issues including the boundary row. “They exchanged views on resolving the boundary disputes through broader talks of the established mechanism,” says a statement issued by the Nepali side. The Indian readout, however, makes no mention of discussion relating to the boundary issue. A diplomatic source tells ApEx that the meeting has paved the way for the “boundary-specific” talks between the two sides. But the Indian side seems reluctant to sit for a meeting. It feels that there is no guarantee Nepali parliament will make changes on the political map based on the outcome of the meeting. It is also worried about the politicization of boundary issues in Nepal Nepal has been urging India to sit for talks in every high-level meeting, to no avail. Besides border disputes, Paudyal and Kwatra also touched upon other issues, such as concluding the Transit Treaty and its protocols, extending the petroleum pipeline from Amlekhgunj to Chitwan, and constructing an LPG pipeline from Motihari to Chitwan. On Nepal’s concern regarding India’s recent restrictions on wheat, sugar, paddy, and other items, India assured to maintain a seamless supply line of goods to Nepal. The two secretaries also reviewed the status of the implementation of agreements signed at the prime ministerial level.

Foreign Secretary of Nepal Bharat Raj Paudyal called on External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi on Wednesday. During the meeting, they discussed matters of bilateral relations and cooperation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Earlier on Tuesday, Paudyal held a meeting with his Indian counterpart Vinay Mohan Kwatra in New Delhi. They discussed multiple areas of cooperation between Nepal and India covering trade, transit, connectivity, infrastructure, power sector, irrigation and inundation, agriculture, investment, development cooperation, health sector competition, culture, and people-to-people relations, among others, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. They also discussed the the boundary issues.

Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China Li Zhanshu paid a courtesy call on President Bidya Devi Bhandari at Sheetal Niwas on Wednesday. Earlier this afternoon, he visited Bhaktapur Durbar Square. During the visit, Chinese Speaker Li inquired about the pictures reflecting the art and culture of Bhaktapur. At the invitation of Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota, he arrived in Kathmandu on a four-day visit on Monday. On the first day of his visit, the Chinese leader signed a six-point memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Speaker Sapkota on inter-parliamentary cooperation. On the second day on Tuesday, he was busy with meeting the senior leaders of various political parties. He called on Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers in Singha Durbar. Chinese leader Li held a meeting with National Assembly Chairman Ganesh Timilsina on Tuesday itself. On the same day, he held separate meetings with CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal. During the meetings, they discussed matters pertaining to bilateral ties. He also held a meeting with Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka on Tuesday.

The meeting of the National Assembly (NA) here today has sent two bills to the Legislative Management Committee for clause-wise deliberation with the message from the House of Representatives (HoR). The bills were 'Insurance Bill-2075 BS' and 'Public Debt Management Bill-2076 BS'. Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Mrigendra Kumar Singh Yadav, on the behalf of Minister for Finance Janardan Sharma, presented the proposal for the same which was endorsed unanimously. Similarly, Legislative Management Committee President Dr Beduram Bhusal in today's meeting presented the report of the Committee on the 'Animal and Livestock Service Council Bill-2076 BS'. The Bill was endorsed in the HoR and came to NA with a message. Dr Bhusal said that the NA's meeting on September 6 had sent this Bill to the Committee for clause-wise deliberation and to present the report. The subsequent meetings of the Committee had deliberated on the Bill, informed Bhusal. The Committee had held discussions on the Bill with concerned ministers, secretaries and related officials. A total of 26 parliamentarians had presented an amendment proposal in 86 points on the Bill. Likewise, NA Chairperson Ganesh Prasad Timalsina read out the authentication letters in regard to various bills received from the Office of the President. The bills were 'Drinking Water and Sanitation Bill-2079 BS', 'Bill to amend and integrate laws on Statistics-2079 BS', ' and Bill to amend Standard Measurement and Weight Act-2025 BS' among others. The NA shall meet again at 3 pm on September 15.