KATHMANDU- Ending a communication gap of nearly four months, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli made a phone call to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.
The Independence Day of India provided an opportunity for the Prime Ministers of two countries to have a phone call after over four months. The last time they talked to each other was on April 10 when the prime ministers of two countries discussed strengthening cooperation to combat coronavirus and take care of each other’s citizens who are stuck in the foreign country due to the lockdown.
Interestingly, as of today, the tweet post of PM Oli about the conversation with his Indian counterpart has remained the last tweet of Nepal’s Prime Minister’s official Twitter handle.
Since then, there has not been any conversation between Prime Ministers of two countries.
The decision of Nepal in mid May to release the new map including Kalapani, Lipulek and Limpiyadhuri angered India, leading to a diplomatic deadlock between two friendly neighbors. Not only formal dialogue, even informal channels mobilized by Nepal received frosty reception. Talks between two friendly neighbors have become very rare in the last four months.
But, Prime Minister Oli initiated a phone call on Saturday as a customary practice of sending his Indian counterpart Nepal’s wishes on India’s Independence Day. The telephone call that is nothing more than a mere formality during Indian Independence Day, however, is expected to become an ice breaker between two prime ministers who were reluctant to have a conversation for over four months, say analysts.
So, what actually was discussed in the much-awaited telephone conversation?
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) following the phone conversation, the Prime Minister of Nepal recalled his earlier conversation with Prime Minister Modi on April 10.
Prime Minister Oli extended his and Nepali peoples’ ‘hearty congratulations’ on the occasion of the Independence Day of India to his Indian counterpart Mod and people of India through him, according to the statement.
The phone conversation also became an opportunity for PM Oli to congratulate Modi on India’s election to a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
He also expressed best wishes for the continued progress and prosperity of the people of India.
Appreciating Prime Minister Modi’s renewed priority to neighborhood as spelt out in his today’s Independence Day address, Prime Minister Oli also said that Nepal looked forward to meaningful bilateral cooperation, according to the statement.
The fight against COVID-19 and cooperation in this area also featured in the phone conversation. PM Oli shared efforts made by Nepal against the pandemic and to protect the life of people.
“While underlining the need for early development of anti-COVID vaccine, the Prime Minister of Nepal expressed hope that scientists around the world, including in India, would be able to develop it that will contribute to control and prevent the disease from spreading further,” read the statement of MoFA.
However, they did not discuss any issue of the map during the meeting, according to the MoFA source.
Only thing that could be interpreted as an indication of willingness to resolve the recent tension is in the last line of statement issued by the MoFA. “The two Prime Ministers agreed to continue discussions on bilateral matters in the future.”
