New Delhi: India and Nepal held a virtual meeting on August 17 to discuss projects financed by India in the Himalayan country, the first such discussion at senior level after November 2019 marking the resumption of dialogue between the two sides since PM KP Sharma Oli’s decision to change Nepal’s political map to include certain Indian territories soured relations.

The Indian team was led by its ambassador to Nepal, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, while the Nepalese side was headed by the country’s foreign secretary. The meeting came two days after Oli telephoned Prime Minister Narendra Modi to greet him on India’s 74th Independence Day, the first high-level contact since the map controversy.

In the meeting held virtually officials assessed the progress of various India-funded development projects being implemented in Nepal, said people aware of the matter. India has constructed 807 kilometres out of the total 1,024 km of the East-West Highway from Mahendranagar to Mechi, considered a lifeline of Nepal. Besides, India constructed 22 bridges in the Kohalpur-Mahakali section of the East-West Highway.

These were handed over to Nepal in 2001. Eight village and urban roads and one bridge have been constructed with Indian assistance of Rs 12.83 crore under the Small Development Projects Programme to provide easy access to the people of remote villages.

Presently, work is on for the construction of eight roads and three bridges at a cost of Rs 20.43 crore, according to those in the know. During the visit of India’s external affairs minister to Nepal in January 2010, the two governments had signed a memorandum of understanding for the development and construction of roads in the Terai area of Nepal. Physical work has commenced on all the packages of phase-I of these roads, said the people cited earlier.