File photo of Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala
Energy-starved Nepal is gearing to ink a major power trade deal with India during the upcoming visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will arrive in Kathmandu on Sunday on his first official visit.
Three major political parties of Nepal - the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and UCPN (Maoist) - yesterday consented to the government's plan to sign Power Trade Agreement (PTA) with
India during Mr Modi's visit.
The meeting of senior leaders of major parties was called by Prime Minister Sushil Koirala to seek national consensus on the agenda to be discussed with the Indian Prime Minister during his two-day visit.
The meeting formed a three-member cross-party panel to finalise the contents of the PTA to be forwarded to the Indian side for approval, official sources said.
The three-member panel includes Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat, CPN-UML leader Bhim Rawal and UCPN-Maoist leader Narayankaji Shrestha.
The panel will finalise the text of the agreement with inputs from energy experts, according to Chiranjibi Nepal, Prime Minister's Economic Adviser. The new PTA will get inputs from the PTA proposal sent by Nepal to India in 2010 and the Power Cooperation Agreement recently forwarded by India recently.
"Keeping national interests at the core and for mutual benefit, we have decided to sign a new power trade deal with India," UCPN-Maoist leader Mr Shrestha said.
"While signing the Power Trade Agreement with India, Nepal should keep its freedom to negotiate power trade with other countries as well," he said.
Former Energy Minister and senior leader of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) Prakash Chandra Lohani speaking at a separate programme said that Nepal should implement the 17-year-old Pancheshwor Hydropower Project pact reached with India.
"I myself as the Foreign Minister and current President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, who was the Minister for External Affairs had inked the agreement in 1996," he recalled.
The 7,000 MW project will be beneficial for both India and Nepal, he added. During the three party meeting, Nepalese leaders also floated the idea of asking a middle-sized hydropower project from India as gift during Mr Modi's visit.