India, Nepal agree to resolve border issues
India and Nepal on Sunday agreed to set up a high-level bilateral mechanism to resolve the border issues between the two neighbours. The move to set up the bilateral mechanism was decided during the meeting between visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Shivashanker Menon and the new Nepalese Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, at which they also reflected on the current political situation in the country.
Menon, making his second visit to Nepal in the last four months, also extended an invitation to the Prime Minister to visit India, dates for which are being worked out. By setting up a bilateral mechanism on border issues, the two countries hope to take out the sting from a campaign being run by the former ruling Maoists party, which has alleged that India has encroached upon Nepalese territories in Dang district.
Earlier, on his arrival, Mr Menon faced protests at the Kathmandu airport by youths alleging India had occupied Nepal’s territory. Nepal police said about seven to eight young men, seemingly students, tried to show the visiting envoy black flags as he alighted at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. However, police broke up the protest and arrested four of the protesters. “It is a non-political protest,” the Gaushala police station incharge told.
