KATHMANDU- India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MoEA) has said that it is unaware about the possible telephone conversation between Prime Ministers of Nepal and India on the Occassion of India’s Independence Day.
In a weekly press briefing of the ministry on Friday, Anurag Srivastava, the spokesperson of MoEA, said he was not aware about any such scheduled telephone conversation.
Asked by Indian journalists whether the Prime Ministers of two countries will have any conversation on the occasion of Indian Independence Day on August 15, Srivastava said that he did not have any information in this regard.
“I have no information in this [matter]. I need to check,” said Srivastava.
He was responding to questions from various Indian journalists on possible talks between the prime ministers of two countries.
During the press briefing, a journalist from The New Indian Express had asked, “Will there be any talks between PM Modi and his Nepali counterpart Oli on August 15 on border issues?”
Another journalist from The Nav Bharat Times had also asked whether there could be talks between Prime Ministers of Nepal and Indian on 15 August citing news reports in Nepali media about possible talks.
Similarly, a journalist from The Print had also asked about the telephone plan.
Nepal’s decision to release its revised map including Kalapani, Lipulek and Limpiyadhura has angered India. The prime ministers have not held any formal talks after Nepal unveiled its new map in June.
It has not been sure whether the customary practice of holding telephone talks between the Prime Ministers of two countries on the occasion of India’s Independence Day on August 15 will be continued this year amid increasingly fraught bilateral relationship following the release of the new map.
