India, Nepal ink pact to expand trade via rail route

India and Nepal signed an agreement on Thursday to strengthen the movement of railbased freight between the two neighbouring countriesThe pact will facilitate railway freight movement between Jogbani India and Biratnagar Nepal including bulk cargo under an expanded definitionThis liberalisation extends to key transit corridors KolkataJogbani KolkatandashNautanwa Sunauli and VisakhapatnamndashNautanwa Sunauli thereby strengthening multimodal trade connectivity between the two countries and Nepalrsquos trade with third countriesBoth countries exchanged a Letter of Exchange amending the Protocol to the Treaty of Transit between India and Nepal in the presence of Indiarsquos Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and his Nepal counterpart Anil Kumar SinhaThe Letter of Exchange enables direct rail connectivity along the JogbanindashBiratnagar rail linkfor both containerised and bulk cargo facilitating transport from the ports of Kolkata and Visakhapatnam to the Nepal Customs Yard cargo station located in Morang District near Biratnagar in NepalThis rail link constructed with grant assistance from the Government of India was jointly inaugurated by the Prime Ministers of India and Nepal on 1 June 2023The meeting also welcomed ongoing bilateral initiatives to enhance crossborder connectivity and trade facilitation including the development of Integrated Check Posts and other infrastructureIndia remains Nepalrsquos largest trade and investment partner accounting for a significant share of its external tradeThese new measures are expected to further consolidate economic and commercial linkages between the two countries and beyondThe agreement comes close on the heels of IndiaNepal agreements signed on Oct 29 to incorporate two joint venture entities for the development of highcapacity crossborder power transmission lines between the two countriesThe joint venture and shareholdersrsquo agreements were signed here between Powergrid a Maharatna Central public sector enterprise of India and the Nepal Electricity Authority in the presence of Union Power Minister Manohar Lal and Nepalrsquos Energy Water Resources and Irrigation of Nepal Kulman GhisingThe agreements provide for the incorporation of two joint venture entities one in India and one in Nepal for setting up crossborder power transmission infrastructureThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever