NEW DELHI: Without mentioning anything on the Doklam issue, where armies of India and China have been engaged in an eyeball to eyeball for over two months, visiting Nepalese Prime Minister assured India that it would not allow any activity against its "friendly neighbour".
During comprehensive talks, both neighbours signed eight pacts, including on cooperation in countering drug trafficking and post-earthquake reconstruction in the Himalayan nation.
After the talks with his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid emphasis on closer cooperation between the security and defence forces of the two countries in order to avoid misuse of the open border between India and Nepal, Deuba gave an assurance of "every support, every help and cooperation"
"Defence ties and assistance in security is an important aspect of our partnership. Our defence interests are also dependent and connected to each other," Modi spoke to media after the event.
"As you (Modi) mentioned that Nepal has an open border...I would like to assure you that Nepal will never allow any activity against friendly neighbour India and there will be every support, every help and cooperation from our side," Deuba said.
On the backdrop of Nepalese parliament failed attempt to endorse the much-awaited Constitution amendment bill to address the issues of Madhesis as the ruling coalition could not garner the two-thirds majority required for its passage, Deuba acknowledged that there were "issues", but expressed confidence that a Constitution "encompassing" the views of the people from all sections and ethnicities would be a reality.
PM Modi, too, exuded confidence that Nepal would take into consideration the aspirations of all its citizens during the implementation of the Constitution.
The Nepalese prime minister said regular engagement at the highest political level would greatly contribute to sustaining and cementing trust between the two countries and his current visit was an effort towards it.
On power front, two leaders jointly inaugurated the Kataiya- Kusaha and Raxaul-Parwanipur cross border power transmission lines, Modi said this would give an additional 100 MW of power to Nepal, apart from the existing 350 MW.
The two sides, he added, had also agreed on development of the Ramayana and Buddhist tourism circuits through better connectivity.
At a time when both countries are facing floods, flood management and irrigation projects was a point of focus in the talks Modi stressed on greater coordination and consultation between the agencies of India and Nepal on flood management and said the two sides must work towards a long term solution, taking into consideration each others interests.
While he expressed the hope that the Detailed Project Report for the Pancheshwar project on the Uttarkhand border of the Indian side would be finalised soon, Deuba stressed that it would help in flood control and crop irrigation.