Bilateral talks today
Deuba in New Delhi, hearty welcome accorded

New Delhi, Mar. 20 (RSS): Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba arrived here this evening on a six-day official goodwill visit to India at the friendly invitation of Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Prime Minister Deuba was welcomed at Indira Gandhi International Airport by Indian Minister of State for Commerce Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

Royal Nepalese Ambassador to India Dr. Bhesh Bahadur Thapa, his wife Dr. Rita Thapa and other embassy officials were also present there to welcome the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Deuba will be formally welcomed amid a special function at Rastrapati Bhavan at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. He will be staying at Rastrapati Bhavan.

The Prime Minister is accompanied by his wife Dr. Arjoo Deuba.

The Prime Minister’s delegation includes Minister for Water Resources Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Purna Bahadur Khadka, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Arjun Jung Bahadur Singh, Minister for Science and Technology Bhakta Bahadur Balayar, MPs, ex-ministers, ex-MPs, senior government officers and journalists.

The Prime Ministers of Nepal and India will meet at Hyderabad House tomorrow evening. Bilateral talks between the two countries will be held and agreements signed immediately after the meeting.

Also in the evening tomorrow, the Prime Minister of India will host a dinner in honour of Prime Minister Deuba.

Prime Minister Deuba will pay courtesy calls on Indian President K.R. Narayanan and Vice President Krishna Kant before the evening programmes. Meetings between Prime Minister Deuba and various Indian Ministers will also take place tomorrow.

Earlier in Kathmandu, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba left here this afternoon for New Delhi on a goodwill official visit to India at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

A contingent of the Royal Nepal Army presented a guard of honour and Panchakanyas offered garlands to Prime Minister Deuba before his departure.

Talking briefly to reporters at the VVIP Lounge of Tribhuvan International Airport before departure, Prime Minister Deuba said he is optimistic about the success of this visit.

Various issues between Nepal and India will be discussed during the visit, he said and expressed the hope that all those issues would be settled.

Speaker Taranath Ranabhat, Raj Parishad Standing Committee Chairman Dr. Keshar Jung Rayamajhi, main opposition party CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal, ministers, ministers of state, heads of diplomatic missions, senior government officials and other distinguished persons were present at the airport to see off Prime Minister Deuba.

The delegation also included NC central members, the chief secretary of His Majesty’s Government, advisors to the Prime Minister, secretaries, mediapersons, the president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, some industrialists and businessmen.

Prime Minister Deuba will return home on March 25 after completing his six-day visit to India.

25 terrorists killed in search operations

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Mar. 20: Twenty-five terrorists were killed and three others arrested during search operations conducted by the security forces in different parts of the country on Tuesday.

According to the Defence Ministry, security forces killed nine terrorists in Chhing and five others in Shyalpakha of Rukum district, four in Bardiya’s Bankatti area and one each in Bhojpur’s Nepaledanda, Syangja’s Baanthok Deurali, Rolpa’s Khumel, Dolpa’s Palang, Surkhet’s Chhinchhu, Kailali’s Pratappur and Gorkha’s Chyangli.

The Ministry said the terrorist killed in Chyangli, identified as Ram Chandra Pandey, was the area commander of that region.

The security personnel recovered four guns, two pistols, 25 magnum rifle bullets, seven kilograms of explosives, various weapons, bombs, and ambush equipment from these places as well as from Mamakhe area of Taplejung and Makpa of Dolakha districts. They also recovered a large quantity of food items from Dhawa area of Gorkha and Taplejung.

The Ministry said seven policemen lost their lives yesterday night in an encounter after a group of armed terrorists attacked Lamki Area Police Office in Kailali district. Seven injured policemen have been brought to Nepalgunj for treatment. According to the Ministry, there were some casualties on the terrorists’ side.

The terrorists had also attacked Sukhad and Chaumala Area Police Offices but the attacks were foiled by the security forces. The Ministry said the security forces were conducting massive search operations in those places.

The press statement of the Ministry said the security forces arrested two terrorists from Surungkhim of Taplejung district and one from Pratappur area  of Kailali district and are investigating them.

India visit generates new hopes to Birgunj dry port

Birgunj, Mar. 20 (RSS): Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s official goodwill visit to India has rekindled a ray of hope among the Nepalese industrialists and businessmen for bringing the dry port at Birgunj into operation.

Nepal has been deprived of revenues of tens of millions of rupees owing to delay in bringing the well-equipped dry port into operation with the objective of facilitating her foreign trade and increasing its accessibility in the international market.

As the greater chunk of Nepal’s export as well as its imports are being carried out via Birgunj transit point, it is essential to run the dry port as early as possible if the goods imported and brought up to the dry port are to be despatched to other parts of the country safely and at a cheaper cost.

The dry port extending over 36 hectres of land at Srisiya Khalwatola VDC in Parsa district has been constructed at an outlay of Rs. 700 million with the loan assistance of the World Bank.

Nepal Multi Model Transport Project started its preliminary feasibility study in mid eighties.

The dry port has failed to recover its investment as a result of delay in reaching an agreement with India for operating railway services.

Both the countries have not yet arrived at any concrete decision regarding operation of railway services between the two neighbouring countries even though His Majesty’s Government had put forth a proposal before Indian authority two years ago and the issue has been raised from time to time in Nepal-India inter-governmental meetings.

Muzaffarpur-Raxaul portion of railway line which was in metre gauge has been upgraded to a broad gauge line in 1995 in line with the Indian government’s national programme.

Prior to this, Kolkata-Muzaffarpur portion of the railway line which Nepalese businessmen used mostly consists of broad gauge line.

Broad gauge railway line has been laid out from Raxaul to the dry port in Birgunj in accordance with a bilateral agreement reached during Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Nepal. However, it has yet to be brought in use.

The 5.266-km railway line was constructed at an outlay of 164.6 million Indian rupees. About 3.83 km falls in Indian territory and the remaining in Nepal.

Dry ports have also been built at Biratnagar and Bhairahawa with the loan assistance from the World Bank. It is the Birgunj dry port which is the largest in terms of the land it occupies.

A study reveals that transportation expenses is expected to be reduce by more than 30 percent once the dry port comes into operation.

Since, a number of problems being faced by Nepalese businessmen like high transportation expenses, pilferage, wear and tear as well as administrative hassles in trade and transit between Nepal and India can be resolved with the operation of Birgunj dry port, the Prime Minister should include the operation of Birgunj dry port in his agenda of talks with the Indian Prime Minister, president of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry Satya Narayan Agrawal said.

It is believed that the pressure of vehicular movement and pollution resulting from it in Birgunj Sub-metropolis can be mitigated to great extent with the operation of the dry port which has a capacity for accommodating 144 small trucks and trailers and 30 big trailers at a time.

The dry port equipped with sound information system for cargoes and electricity facility can also be operated during the night.

Visit an opportunity to expand ties: MPs

Kathmandu, Mar. 20 (RSS): Leader of the main opposition party and parliamentary party leader Madhav Kumar Nepal at the House of Representatives meeting today said that the Prime Minister was going to visit India without adequate preparations at home and the jumbo team was not necessary in view of the poor economic condition of the country.

Stating that the Prime Minister should be sensitive to national interests and no treaty or agreements should take place against the interests of the country, Mr Nepal noted that relations with foreign countries should be built on mutual interests.

We want friendly relations developed with all neighbouring countries and national interests should form the basis of foreign relations, he said, adding, open border, women trafficking, the Bhutanese refugee problem, the 1950 Indo-Nepal treaty, the Mahakali treaty, Laxmanpur and Khurdalotan, problem arising out of the Koshi River, the dry port and the recently concluded trade treaty should figure in discussion.

The UML leader also wished that the Prime Minister would be successful in enhancing the glory and dignity of the nation.

Ram Chandra Paudel of the Nepali Congress observed that for a landlocked country like Nepal, relations with India are important from every point of view and spoke of the need for the
Prime Minister to clearly put across his views with high morale.

Noting that South Asian nations still continue to bear the brunt of terrorism and in the context of the SAARC nations pledging their commitment to root out terrorism way back in 1980, the PM will put across the matters relating to this, Mr Paudel said many individuals involved in terrorist activities are learnt to have their shelters in India and the Prime Minister should tell India in explicit terms that the Maoists would not be given any opportunity to carry out their activities from its soil.

RPP’s Buddhiman Tamang underlined the need of doing a full-scale homework for resolving the border problem within a certain time-frame, implementing the Mahakali treaty and removing constraints Nepalese items to be exported are facing.

Nepal Sadbhawana Party parliamentary leader Badri Prasad Mandal noted that his party has taken the Prime Minister’s India visit positively and the visit should not be viewed with doubts, rather it should be taken as an opportunity to promote bilateral interests.

Parliamentary party leader of National People’s Front Chitra Bahadur KC drew the government’s attention to the indiscriminate arrests of NPF, NC and other political party workers in Galkot and Burtibang of Baglung, and beating up and suppressing them.

Lilamani Pokharel of the United People’s Front wondered why the Prime Minister was in so hurry to visit India at a time when the parliamentary session was going on and emergency was in effect, and spoke of the need to hold talks strongly with India about the Bhutanese refugee problem, the 1950 Indo-Nepal treaty and border disputes.

Going India to resolve the Maoist problem is not good, he further said.

NC’s Dilendra Prasad Badu complained that innocent people are being killed and kidnapped, people have been terrorised and security is not satisfactory, while CPN (UML)’s Rajendra Pandey accused the security personnel killing innocent people in various places including Kalikot and rapped the indiscriminate arrests of the people.

NC’s Govinda Bahadur Shaha noted that the Maoists have attacked in Lamki of Kailali and demanded information about the situation there, while Tarasam Yange of CPN (UML) wished that the PM would be able to put across his views clearly and courageously.

I will seek India’s cooperation to fight terrorism, says PM

By A Staff Reporter

Kathamndu, Mar. 20: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba told the Parliament hours before leaving for India this evening that he would seek cooperation from the southern neighbour in Nepal’s fight against Maoist terrorists.

Prime Minister Deuba assured lawmakers that he would discuss all issues of mutual cooperation, including sharing of support to curb terrorism, while keeping Nepal’s national interest, sovereignty and dignity intact and keeping in view the security sensibilities of the country.

"It is basically a goodwill visit," the Prime Minister told the House of Representatives. "There are many aspects to Nepal-India relations, there can be many topics, which could and should be discussed at formal and informal levels."

The Prime Minister’s statement came in response to lawmakers’ demand that he should inform the House about his visit to India taking place at a critical time in the country.

"I consider it relevant to talk about the State of Emergency and the ongoing security operations conducted by the government against the Maoist terrorists with the Indian leaders," Deuba said adding, "Indian co-operation is vital to effectively control the terrorist activities in the country."

Deuba said that he would request the government of India to take necessary steps and ensure that the Nepalese land would not be inundated because of the dams and embankments constructed by India.

The recently renewed Nepal-India Trade Treaty-1996 will also figure during the high-level talks. "I will emphasise that the provisions of the Treaty should be implemented in such a way that this will promote trade and investment between the two countries," he informed.

The Premier also expressed the confidence that the visit would promote the greater interest of the country.

Deuba further said he would persuade the Indian side to immediately finalise the proposed Railway Operation Agreement and Customs Procedures, a necessary step towards operationalising the Inland Container Depot constructed in Birgunj.

"I will also emphasise effective monitoring and implementation of the development projects built with the assistance of the Indian government by reviewing their implementation aspects," said Deuba.

"During the meeting with the Indian counterpart, I will push ahead the earlier efforts to make the Nepal-India Treaty-1950 timely and relevant," he said. "The visit will focus on intensifying the processes to better manage the Nepal-India border, overseen by a joint mechanism of the two countries.

"Likewise, I will raise border issues, including Kalapani, in which the two sides have some conceptual differences and the discussion will be centred for their prompt resolution.

"There are many possibilities to utilise water resources in the interest of the two countries," he said. He added that he would talk about implementation of treaties concerning the utilisation of water resources including the Mahakali Treaty between Nepal and India.

Likewise, I will make efforts to muster support from the Indian side to resolve the Bhutanese refugee problem, the Prime Minister said.

"I, in the capacity of the chairman of SAARC, will share the ideas with the politicians of India to provide dynamism to the cooperation and programmes under the regional body while the talks will also include matters concerning the regional and international issues," Deuba said.

Stating that lawmakers and various political parties have raised questions regarding the visit, the Prime Minister said that the country was undoubtedly passing through a critical phase. "However, the urgency for the moment is to end terrorism as soon as possible."

Likewise, it is very necessary to talk with India about resolving the problem of floods and inundation as the rainy season is approaching, he said and added, "The most important aspect is to consolidate and develop the Nepal-India friendly relation in light of changing times. The purpose of my visit is guided by this concern."

Her Majesty opens building for disabled

Kathmandu, Mar. 20 (RSS): Her Majesty Queen Komal Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah inaugurated the buildings of the Technical and Skill Development Centre for the Blind and Disabled (TSDCBD) and the Mariko Memorial Foundation/Art Gallery amidst a function held at Nagaun of Kirtipur today.

On the occasion Her Majesty the Queen presented letters of commendations to Mr. G. Th. Ten Hove, Director of Dark and Light, the Netherlands, members of TSDCBD Mrs. Reiko Ito, Mrs. Masumi Sano and Mr. Yoehi Nisihmora, Mr Jan Bloem, a volunteer of the Netherlands and the representative of the Nepal Youth Opportunity Foundation (NYOF), Nepal for assisting in construction of the TSDCBD and Mariko Memorial Foundation/Art Gallery buildings.

Her Majesty the Queen viewed with keen interest the rooms of the two buildings and granted audience to the officials of the TSDCBD.

Her Royal Highness Princess Prerana Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah was also present on the occasion.

TSDCBD, a non profit organisation, was set up in March, 1991 with the objective of providing vocational training to the disabled, eliminating superstitious beliefs in the society, demonstrating that disabled are capable as others, boosting the morale of the disabled, developing cooperation, coordination and harmony among the social organisations and sustaining its programmes.

The TSDCBD building and Mariko Memorial Foundation/Art Gallery is being built on six ropanis of land at a cost of Rs. 18 million.

The building with training room and libraries was built at a cost of Rs. 11.8 million by the Dark and Light Blind Care Association of the Netherlands while the Mariko Memorial Foundation/Art Gallery was built by Mrs. Reiko Ito in memory of her daughter Mariko at a cost of Rs. 6.250 million.

Speaking on the occasion Minister of State for Women, Children and Social Welfare Rajendra Kharel said that His Majesty’s Government has initiated the work of making the disabled persons self-reliant by providing them vocational training and encouraging social institutions in this work.

TSDCBD director Sushil Man Singh Pradhan said that technical and skill development centre has already provided training to 1,170 disabled in computers and making candles, etc with the objective of making them self-reliant.

Founder chairperson of TSDCBD Shashi Kala Singh, mayor of Kirtipur Municipality Hirakaji Maharjan, Mr. G. Th. Ten Hove, Junko Wache and Mrs. Masumi Sano threw light on the activities of the Technical and Skill Development Centre.

They also expressed the view that a feeling of sacrifice and dedication is needed in the field of social service.