Despite facing challenges and obstacles, connectivity and development projects between the two countries have made significant progress in the past decade. Officials say Prime Minister Dahal’s India trip could be centered on giving further momentum to these projects.
Since the 1950s, the Indian government has been extending financial and technical assistance to Nepal for the implementation of large-scale development infrastructure and connectivity projects. These projects encompass various areas such as education, health, irrigation, and rural infrastructure. The 2022 Annual Report of the Ministry of External Affairs of India states that cross-border connectivity projects, such as rail links, roads, and Integrated Check Posts (ICPs), are progressing well. During Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra's recent visit to Kathmandu, too, the two sides reviewed the projects and expressed satisfaction with the progress made. In recent years, Nepal and India have completed several major flagship projects, including the first-ever cross-border petroleum products pipeline in South Asia—from Motihari in India to Amlekhgunj in Nepal. The project was completed in 2019 and is already operational, facilitating the supply of petroleum products. Further discussions are underway to extend the pipeline to Chitwan in central Nepal, as well as to construct a new pipelines in eastern Nepal. Significant progress has been made in improving cross-border connectivity as well. Two Integrated Check Posts (ICPs), located at Birgunj and Biratnagar, are fully operational, facilitating the movement of approximately two million passengers and cargo traffic annually. Furthermore, additional ICPs are under construction, indicating the commitment to further enhancing cross-border trade and transportation. In the field of power transmission, three cross-border power transmission lines have been constructed, supplying 600 MW of electricity to Nepal, which has contributed to the development of the country's energy infrastructure. Road connectivity projects have also gained momentum, with India's assistance in the construction of 807 km out of the 1,024 km-long East-West Highway in Nepal. As of December 2022, all 14 Tarai road packages, completed under Indian assistance of Rs 5bn, have been handed over to Nepal. Several other roads are also under construction. Progress in the development of cross-border rail networks between Nepal and India has also been encouraging. The railway projects between the two countries include the operationalization of the Jayanagar-Bardibas cross-border section and Jogbani-Nepal customs yard rail section. In June 2022, a Bharat Gaurav train was flagged off, connecting the holy city of Janakpur in Nepal with Ramayana circuit locations in India. The Jayanagar-Kurtha stretch of the Jayanagar-Bardibas broad gauge project was also launched and operationalized in April 2022. There has been notable progress in the construction of a 136-km broad gauge electrified railway line that will connect Kathmandu with Raxaul. The Indian side has already completed the preliminary survey, and the location survey tasks are currently underway. It is worth mentioning that this railway line coincides with China's plan to construct the Kathmandu-Kerung railway line, for which a Chinese team is conducting a feasibility study. Likewise, there has been visible progress in bilateral energy cooperation. In 2022, the two countries signed a joint vision statement on power sector cooperation, outlining key pillars for collaboration. These include joint development of power generation projects in Nepal, cross-border transmission infrastructure, bi-directional power trade, coordinated operation of national grids, and institutional cooperation in sharing the latest operation information, technology, and know-how. Furthermore, hydropower projects being executed by Indian companies are progressing well. Large hydroelectric projects, such as Arun III (900 MW), Lower Arun (679 MW), Arun-4 (490 MW), West Seti and SR-6 (1200 MW), and Upper Karnali (900 MW), are currently being developed by Indian companies. In the past, there were criticisms regarding the sluggish progress of these projects, but they have picked up pace in the recent years. Prime Minister Dahal’s imminent India visit also comes at an exciting new development in Nepal. For the first time in history, Nepal has become energy surplus and even started exporting power to India. India has agreed to import more than 400 MW electricity from Nepal. To this end, Nepal exported power worth Rs 6bn in the summer of 2022. Likewise, there has been significant progress in the reconstruction projects after the 2015 earthquake. India extended $1bn to Nepal as part of its long-term assistance for post-earthquake reconstruction in housing, education, health, and cultural heritage sectors. The reconstruction work of over 130 hospitals/health centers, schools, and 28 cultural heritage sites in Nepal is currently underway. Since 2014, there has been a significant increase in exchange of high-level visits, which has greatly contributed to accelerating development projects. According to India’s Ministry of External Affairs, there have been 15 exchanges at the level of Head of State/Head of Government between Nepal and India since May 2014. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited Nepal five times during his tenure, and prime ministers of Nepal have visited India eight times since Modi came to power. Modi was the first Indian prime minister to visit Nepal after 1997. His first trip to Nepal in 2014 and subsequent visits not only revived exchanges of high-level visits, but also acted as an impetus to long-pending development projects. The ties between the two countries did suffer a serious setback in the wake of the undeclared border blockade enforced by India in 2015 and the border curbs that were put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic. But these issues did not stop the bilateral mechanisms between the two countries from holding their routine meetings. Currently, there are more than 40 bilateral mechanisms between Nepal and India. It is important to continue the development partnership between the two countries, irrespective of the political leadership at the top level.
