Kathmandu, Sep 15 (Inditop.com) Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao’s Nepal visit will be followed by a meeting between the home secretaries of the two countries to discuss the ‘entire gamut of bilateral security issues’, underlining New Delhi’s growing security concerns in Nepal, especially after the terror attacks in Mumbai last year that killed over 170 people.
Rao, who concluded her two-day visit Tuesday meeting Nepal’s embattled Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, has reiterated India’s security concerns and the use of Nepali territory for anti-India activities.
The renewed concern comes after Indian police made several arrests related to terror attacks and smuggling of fake currency in which the arrested people were found to have links to Nepal.
At a press conference before her departure Tuesday, Rao said the alliance government of Nepal has given an unequivocal commitment that anti-India activities will not be allowed on Nepali soil.
According to Nepal’s foreign ministry spokesman Madan Kumar Bhattarai, Rao had broached the issue of signing a revised extradition treaty, which would allow the deportation of third country nationals.
The treaty was scheduled to be signed several years ago but was shelved due to pressure from the Maoists.
India and Nepal have also been discussing for several years a treaty on mutual legal assistance that will, among other things, allow the police of one country to sit during the interrogation of a criminal by the force of the neighbouring country. However, that too is yet to be formally signed.
During aviation talks at the secretary level in New Delhi last week, India also reiterated its request to allow air marshals on board select flights from Kathmandu to Indian metros.
Though the Indian government has been seeking such a measure in the wake of the hijack of an Indian Airlines aircraft from Kathmandu to New Delhi, Nepal is yet to concede the safety measure.
India is also worried at the growing circulation of fake Indian currency from Nepal and Rao said she had mentioned the concern during her meeting with her Nepali counterpart, Gyan Chandra Acharya.
The home secretaries of the two nations will continue security talks in Kathmandu Nov 6-7, Rao said.
The nearly 1,800-km open border between the two countries also remains a grave security issue. Besides being infiltrated by terror operators, it was also creating acrimony between the two governments with accusations of encroachment.
Though Rao said 96 percent of the strip maps of the newly delineated border have been prepared, there were reports that while the Indian foreign secretary wanted Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal’s government to sign the new strips, Nepal has blocked the effort.
The Nepal government is proposing that the new border be made official only after the hot spots are resolved, which is not likely in near future.
