Nepal plans review of all pacts with India before PM Oli visit

Ahead of Nepalese Prime Minister K.P. Oli’s maiden visit to India next month, the government has proposed formation of a four-member eminent persons’ group to review the existing bilateral agreements with India including the strategic Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1950.

The government has proposed names of four persons to form the eminent persons’ group (EPG), during the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday though no formal decision was taken to this effect, minister for information and communication Sherdhan Rai said. Former finance minister Bhesh Bahadur Thapa, former chief of the commission for investigation authority Suyra Nath Upadhyaya, former UN assistant secretary-general Kul Chandra Gautam and CPN-UML lawmaker Rajan Bhattarai, were names proposed to be included in the EPG.

The next Cabinet meeting will take a formal decision in this regard, said Mr Rai. The 1950 India-Nepal Tre-aty of Peace and Friendship allows free movement of people and goods between the two nations and a close relationship and collaboration on matters of defence and foreign policy.