Efforts on to make India- Nepal ties superhit: Modi

New Delhi: India and Nepal will strive to take their relationship to Himalayan heights and resolve the boundary issue and all such matters in this spirit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday after holding wide-ranging talks with his Nepalese counterpart Pushpakamal Dahal Prachanda.

In his media statement after the talks, Modi said he and Prachanda took many important decisions to make the partnership between the two countries a “super hit” in the future even as the two leaders remotely inaugurated a number of projects and laid the foundation stone of some others. The two sides also signed seven agreements to boost cooperation in a range of areas, including extension of cross-border petroleum pipeline, development of integrated check posts and boosting cooperation in hydroelectric power. One of the key pacts signed was the revised India-Nepal treaty of transit.

“We will continue to strive to take our relationship to Himalayan heights. And in this spirit, we will resolve all issues, be it boundary related or any other issue,” Modi said in presence of Prachanda. Modi also referred to his priority in strengthening ties with Nepal after he took charge as prime minister nine years back.

“I remember, nine years ago, in 2014, within three months of taking office, I made my first visit to Nepal. At that time I had given a ‘hit’ formula for India-Nepal relations -- Highways, I-ways, and Trans-ways,” Modi said. “I had said that we will establish such a relationship between India and Nepal that our borders do not become barriers between us,” he said. Modi said he was feeling proud to say after nine years that “our partnership has been really a ‘hit’.”

Following the talks, the two leaders virtually inaugurated integrated check posts at Rupaidiha in India and Nepalgunj in Nepal. They also virtually flagged off a cargo train from Bathnaha in Bihar to Nepal custom yard. To further strengthen cultural and religious ties, PM Prachanda and I decided that projects related to Ramayana circuit should be expedited, Modi said.

In his comments, Prachanda said he and Modi carried out an “extensive review” of the progress in the ties and renewed their commitment to further strengthen relations and cooperation. The Nepalese prime minister said he appreciated Modi’s “neighbourhood first policy”.

­I had given a ‘hit’ formula for India-Nepal relations - Highways, I-ways, and Trans-ways. I had said that we will establish such a relationship between India and Nepal that our borders do not become barriers between us. Feeling proud to say that after nine years our partnership has been really a hit

- Prime Minister Narendra Modi