According to the report, in 2022, there were two back-to-back prime ministerial visits, with then Nepal PM Sher Bahadur Deuba visiting India in April 2022, and the Indian PM visiting Nepal in May 2022. One of the achievements of 2022 is the issuance of a joint vision statement on power sector cooperation. According to the report, there has been intense defense cooperation between the two countries.
The report also highlights what it calls ‘further momentum’ in the power sector with Nepal. Nepal has become power surplus and started exporting power to India, the report states, adding that India has given Nepal the consent to export more than 400 MW to India. Nepal exported more than Rs 600 crores (Rs 6bn) worth of power to India this wet season. With this, electricity has become one of Nepal’s largest exports to India, the report says. Nepal is India’s 11th largest export destination, up from 28th position in 2014. In 2021-22, Nepal constituted 2.34 percent of India’s exports. The bilateral framework for trade is anchored on India-Nepal Treaty of Trade and Agreement of cooperation to control unauthorized trade, revised in 2009, both treaties were automatically renewed for a further period of seven years in October 2016. Nepal’s main imports from India are petroleum products, iron and steel, cereals, vehicles and parts, and machinery parts. Nepal’s major items of exports include soybean oil, spices, jute fiber and products, synthetic yarn, and tea.
