SIX MoUs SIGNED
KATHMANDU: Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral talks in Lumbini. Nepal and India signed six Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) after their talks on Monday.
During the meeting, the two Prime Ministers recalled their fruitful discussions during the Deuba's official visit to India on April 1-3, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kathmandu.
The two Prime Ministers also discussed a broad overview of Nepal-India cooperation and matters of mutual interests with a view to further enhancing close and cordial ties between the two countries.
The two sides also agreed in principle to establish the sister city relations between Lumbini and Kushinagar, and the necessary process will be taken in due course through appropriate local authorities, the Ministry added.
One of the major takeaways of the visit is the joint development of the Arun-4 hydroelectricity project between the two neighbouring nations.
India's Sutlej Jala Vidyut Nigam (SJVN), and Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), will jointly develop the project that has an installed capacity of 695 megawatts. The SJVN is currently developing, the Arun-III hydroelectricity project in the same river that has a generation capacity of 800 megawatts.
Kulman Ghising, managing director of the NEA, and Nandalal Sharma, chairman of SJVN, signed the agreement on the respective sides.
With this, now both sides would set up a joint venture company where SJV will put a 51 per cent stake while NEA will have a share of 49 per cent, as per the agreements.
Nepal will receive 21.9 per cent free energy after completing the project. It will cost around $750 million to develop the project.
The two sides also signed an MoU between the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) and Lumbini Buddhist University on the establishment of the Dr Ambedkar Chair for Buddhist Studies.
Similarly, the ICCR and the Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies Tribhuvan University signed another pact on the establishment of the ICCR Chair of Indian Studies at CNAS.
Likewise, the ICCR and the Kathmandu University (KU) also signed an agreement on the establishment of the ICCR Chair of Indian Studies at the latter.
The KU and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras have signed another MoU on collaboration in the education sector, while a Letter of Agreement was inked between the two for a joint degree programme at the Master's level.
The pacts were signed after bilateral talks between Modi and his Nepali counterpart, Sher Bahadur Deuba. (IANS)
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