Nepal-India meet on ICPs postponed
KATHMANDU, January 22: A meeting between Nepali and Indian officials on establishment of integrated check points (ICPs) to facilitate Indo-Nepal trade has been postponed after the southern neighbour failed to respond to Nepal’s request on time.
The Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), which is overseeing the construction of ICPs in Nepali territory, had originally proposed to hold the meeting on January 28. But after the Indian side did not send confirmation, a meeting of the project’s steering committee held yesterday decided to postpone the talks for now.
“We have officially informed the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu about the deferral of talks for the time being, as we won’t be able to complete formalities like getting cabinet’s approval within the scheduled date of January 28, even if the Indian side responds in a day or two,” MoUS under secretary Purushottam Prasad Tiwari told The Himalayan Times.
Although the meeting between Nepali and Indian officials on construction of ICPs is supposed to be held every year, talks between the two sides have not taken place since July 2011.
“We were hoping to discuss various agendas to expedite construction of ICPs at the meeting, but it appears we will have to wait for some more time to do that,” Tiwari said, without elaborating on the agendas that Nepal was planning to raise during the talks.
An agreement to build ICPs at Birgunj, Biratnagar, Bhairahawa and Nepalgunj on the Nepali side and at Raxaul, Jogbani, Sunauli and Rupedia on the Indian side was signed in August, 2005. Indian government is supporting Nepal to build these check points to facilitate trade and transit between Nepal and India.
Once the project is complete, customs office, quarantine laboratories, immigration office, banks and post office, among others, will come under one roof called ‘ICP’. Currently, all these facilities are scattered at Nepal-India border points and people have to travel quite a distance when they have to release cargoes or visit a quarantine laboratory.
“The idea is to build similar physical infrastructure for ICPs in Nepal and India. The ICPs will then be interconnected so that transfer of passengers and goods through Nepal-India border is smooth,” Tiwari said, adding, “This will eventually facilitate trade and transit.”
Despite these advantages, work on construction of ICPs has been slow. Currently, only construction work in Birgunj — one of the four sites — has begun. But this project is also running behind schedule, as the ICP which should have been built within 18 months to two years of commencement of construction in 2009 is yet to be completed.
“At other places, we have only been able to acquire land and construct access roads to the project sites,” Tiwari informed.
(Source: THT)
