(2 Apr 2022)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
New Delhi - 2 April 2022
1. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba arrive for photo
2. Modi and Deuba pose for cameras, greet each other and walk away
3. Security
4. Modi and Deuba inaugurating and flagging off a cross border rail link virtually
5. Mid of Nepalese delegation
6. Nepalese official handing over signed document to Indian official after joining International Solar Alliance
7. Cameraman
8. Nepalese and Indian officials exchanging agreement on supply of petroleum products
9. SOUNDBITE (Hindi) Narendra Modi, Indian Prime Minister:
"India has been a steadfast partner in Nepal's national journey of peace, progress and development and will always continue to be so."
10. Mid of Modi and Deuba during news conference
11. SOUNDBITE (Hindi) Narendra Modi, Indian Prime Minister:
"We have also discussed today that the open borders between India and Nepal should not be misused by undesirable elements. We also emphasized the fact that our defence and security institutions should maintain close cooperation with each other."
12. Mid of Modi and Deuba during news conference
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Sher Bahadur Deuba, Nepalese Prime Minister:
"Nepal's relation with India are highly important. We look upon the tremendous economic transformation that India has achieved. We are eager to benefit from India's progress through a mutually beneficial economic partnership."
14. Modi and Deuba shake hands
STORYLINE:
Nepal's prime minister met his Indian counterpart on Saturday during a three-day trip to New Delhi aimed at enhancing the ties between the countries, as the Himalayan nation also deepens relations with India's rival, China.
Sher Bahadur Deuba met Narendra Modi on his first foreign trip since becoming Nepal's prime minister last year after the fall of a Communist government in Kathmandu.
The leaders discussed bilateral relations and later virtually waved flags at the inaugural run of passenger train services between the neighbours.
They said at a joint news briefing they planned to deepen their cross-border engagement.
The visit comes amid growing concerns among India's strategic experts that New Delhi is losing influence over the Himalayan country to rival China, which has been showering Nepal with investments in infrastructure development and helping with millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic.
It is tradition for Nepalese prime ministers soon after taking over office to visit the southern neighbour India, which has always had major political and economic influence over Nepal.
The visit is seen as an opportunity for Deuba to renew relations with Indian leaders and also for Indian leadership to try regain their clout.
Deuba's trip comes on the heels of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to Kathmandu and approval by Nepal of a contentious half-billion-dollar aid grant from the United States, apparently to counter Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative.
Nepal is surrounded on three sides by India with open borders allowing traffic into each other's territories without passports or visas.
Landlocked Nepal imports most of its food, supplies and oil from India.
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