New Delhi: India and Nepal Oversight Mechanism meeting will be held on August 17 in Kathmandu to review ongoing bilateral economic and development projects.
It would be the first high-level contact between the two sides since ties were hit by a border row since May this year.
“The scheduled oversight mechanism meeting between the Indian Ambassador in Kathmandu and Nepal's Foreign Secretary on 17 August 2020 is part of a regular interaction between India and Nepal,” sources in the government said here on Tuesday.
The oversight mechanism was set up in 2016 to review ongoing bilateral economic and development projects and meets on a periodic basis.
From Indian side, Indian envoy to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra while Nepal’s foreign secretary Shanker Das Bairagi from Nepalese side will attend the meeting.
“The mechanism will only focus on the implementation of India-funded projects in Nepal. However, it could help break the logjam in relations,” sources said.
During its seventh meeting in July last year, the mechanism reviewed the implementation of projects such cross-border rail links, petroleum pipelines, roads, bridges, integrated border check posts, energy, irrigation, and post-earthquake reconstruction.
The border row was first erupted late last year after Nepal objected to the inclusion of Kalapani region, which is claimed by Kathmandu, in a new map of the union territory of Ladakh that was issued by India.
The border tension was escalated in in May, when Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a new road to Lipulekh region on the border with Tibet, as this area too is claimed by Nepal.
Nepal responded by issuing a new map that showed Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura, which are all controlled by India, as part of Nepalese territory.
