Oli cries foul, but Dahal keeps mum over Akhand Bharat mural in India's new parliament, Modi vows to strengthen ties with Nepal

Though a mural of Akhand Bharat in India’s new parliament building triggered protests in Nepal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted his counterpart from Kathmandu, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, in New Delhi on Thursday and vowed to resolve the boundary dispute amicably and elevate the bilateral relations to the “height of the Himalayas”.

Modi and Dahal launched several bilateral connectivity projects and witnessed the signing of as many as seven pacts, including a Memorandum of Understanding between the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) Limited of India and the Vidhyut Utpadan Company Limited (VUCL) of Nepal for the development of the 480 MW Phukot-Karnali Hydroelectric Project in the neighbouring country. The Project Development Agreement between the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited and the Investment Board of Nepal for the 669 MW Lower Arun Hydroelectric Project in the neighbouring country was also among the pacts inked after the meeting between the two prime ministers at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.

The two sides agreed to raise India’s import of power from Nepal to 10,000 MW in the next 10 years. New Delhi also gave its nod to energy supply from Nepal to Bangladesh through India for up to 40 MW of power.

“We will continue to work to give our relationship the height of the Himalayas. And, in this spirit, we will solve all the issues, whether it is of boundary or any other issue,” Modi said as he and Dahal, aka Prachanda, addressed media-persons after the meeting.

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The meeting between Modi and Dahal took place even as a mural in the new parliament building of India triggered protests from Nepal’s former prime minister, K P Sharma Oli. The mural showed ancient India’s larger areas of influence over Nepal, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Oli, however, alleged that the mural showed Kapilvastu, Lumbini and some other territories of Nepal as part of India.

“If a country like India that sees itself as an ancient and strong country and as a model of democracy puts Nepali territories in its map and hangs the map in Parliament, it cannot be called fair,” said Oli, who had ratcheted up India-Nepal territorial dispute during his tenure as the prime minister. He also demanded that Prachanda should formally convey to Modi Kathmandu’s objection over the inclusion of territories of Nepal in the mural of India during his visit to New Delhi.

Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, however, later told journalists that the issue of the mural had not come up for discussion when the two prime ministers had met in New Delhi on Thursday.

The other agreements included an MoU between the Government of India and the Government of Nepal for cooperation in the field of petroleum infrastructure. India agreed to build on the success of the cross-border Motihari-Amlekhganj petroleum pipeline and agreed to extend it up to Chitwan in Nepal. The two sides also agreed to build another new pipeline from Siliguri in India to Jhapa in eastern Nepal. Besides, New Delhi would also help Kathmandu set up new storage terminals at Chitwan and Jhapa in Nepal. “We have also agreed on mutual cooperation to set up a fertilizer plant in Nepal,” said the prime minister.

Modi and Dahal remotely inaugurated the Kurtha-Bijalpura section of a cross-border railway line, and flagged off the inaugural run of a cargo train of Indian Railways from Bathnaha in India to Nepal Customs Yard in the neighbouring country. India funded the construction of the new rail link to Nepal. They also inaugurated the of Integrated Checkposts (ICPs) at Nepalgunj (Nepal) and Rupaidiha (India).