Indo-Nepal talks get underway
KATHMANDU, DEC 22 -
A two-day Nepal - India commerce secretary-level Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) meeting kick off here on Saturday, with the two neighbours holding talks on range of issues related to bilateral trade.
Nepal i officials participating in the meeting said talks on all seven agendas were positive. Among the agendas that featured in meeting were Nepal ’s request to provide 10,000 hybrid cows to the private sector in Nepal , removal of additional duties imposed on Nepal i goods in India , availing the use of Vishakhapatnam port for Nepal and providing transit facility to India to transport goods from one territory to another of the southern neighbour through Nepal . Nepal also requested India to sign a power-trade agreement for ease in power trade like other goods.
Secretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies Madhav Regmi, who is leading the Nepal i side, said that discussion on all issues went positively. “However, some of the issues remain to be resolved through further discussion,” he added.
A Nepal i official at the meeting said that India was ready to waive off additional duty on Nepal i goods as long as their law permits to do so. India has been imposing additional duty of 6-12 percent on many Nepal i products in India , according to the Commerce Ministry.
“There are a few complications on removing additional duty,” said the official, but did not elaborate what they were.
As regards the issue of providing hybrid cow, Regmi said that India was ready to give cows by following due procedures. Nepal sought the supply of hybrid cows from the southern neighbour in order to meet the milk demand and help dairy farmers boost milk production. According to Regmi, Nepal has a shortfall of half a million litres of milk on an average daily.
Regarding allowing Nepal to use Vishakhapatnam port, Regmi said that an issue was still under discussion. In the past, the India n side had put condition that Nepal could be allowed to use the second port only if it agreed to a additional lock provision under which India will double lock the Nepal -bound containers in Kolkota to prevent tampering of containers.
Nepal , which had earlier insisted that it should be single lock as per the Nepal - India Transit Treaty, appears to have taken a flexible approach on the matter after studies suggested that the double-lock system would not harm Nepal ’s interest. India had agreed to allow Nepal to use the Visakhapatnam port as an alternative to the Kolkata port in 2009.
Nepal is currently using Kolkata port to carry out its seaborne trade. Considering the traffic congestion in the Kolkata port, Nepal has been looking for more gateways.
Nepal responded positively to the India n proposal on transit facility. “However, we have not made our position clear yet,” said Jib Raj Koirala, joint secretary at the ministry, another member of the Nepal i talk team.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
