Nepal may have tilted towards China in recent years and China has also started many projects there, but India has been doing this work there for years. In fact, the foundation of bilateral relations between India and Nepal rests on cooperation in its development. Under this, many sectors like road, rail, health, education, electricity etc. have been covered. Along with the development of Nepal, its aim is also to increase people-to-people contact between the two countries.
India is an old partner of Nepal in development. In order to establish a modern infrastructure in Nepal, India-Nepal cooperation started in 1951, which expanded over time. Gauchar Airport in Nepal, today known as Tribhuvan Airport, was completed in 1954 with the help of India.
The Ministry of External Affairs said that the visit of Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to India starting on Friday will give further impetus to this development partner. This time too there will be talks between the two countries regarding a new project. On April 2, he will hold a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India had established an aid mission in Nepal
For the first time in 1954, India established an aid mission in Nepal to provide assistance in roads, health, education, electricity and administration there. Later on many more areas expanded. For this, both loans and grants have been provided by India.
Helped in health sector
Talking about the health sector, Nepal-India Friendship Emergency Trauma Center has been established in Kathmandu with the help of 100 crores. It is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities like AIIMS and was inaugurated in November 2014. Similarly, a new medical block has also been established in BP Koirala Institute of Medical Science in 2014 at a cost of Rs.125 crore.
Assistance in the construction of Nepal Police Academy
In the year 2000, India has established Nepal Bharat Maitri Vidyalaya Pokhara at a cost of Rs 125 crore. Apart from this, 32 crores have been invested in Manmohan Memorial Polytechnic, Morang. India’s Rs 650 crore project is also going on for the construction of Nepal Police Academy.
India also helped in the field of electricity
Similarly, in the field of electricity, India has provided help to Nepal. India has provided assistance of 14 crores for the construction of the project on Trishuli Hydro Power. Recently Motihari Amlekhganj Petroleum Pipeline has been started on which India has spent Rs 329 crore in 2019. From this line, people of Nepal started getting petrol cheaper by Rs 2 per liter.
Gave speed to the expansion of rail and roads
Government sources said that India is also helping in the expansion of rail and roads in Nepal. Under the Terai Road project, Nepal’s east-west highways are being connected with the Indian border. Apart from this, a six-lane bridge over Mechhi river has also been completed last year with the help of India. India has also undertaken 523 high impact community development projects in Nepal since 2003. Under these, health, education, electricity infrastructure is to be developed. Of these, 467 have been completed.
Projects worth $1.65 billion expanded
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, projects worth $ 1.65 billion have been extended to Nepal under different projects. These include projects related to road, rail etc. This includes the Muzaffarpur-Dhalkebar power transman line, which was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Nepal in 2016. Similarly, the new Mechhi Bridge has also been completed last year. Similarly, the Koshi Corridor transmission line is also being prepared with the help of 10.40 billion dollars. Its two packages have been prepared. With this, two thousand MW of electricity will be generated by setting up power projects in Arun and Tamor basins.
Grant of $250 million
India had approved a one billion dollar project after the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, in which an amount of 250 million dollars was approved. Under this, the project of construction of 50 thousand houses has been completed in November 2021, which cost 100 million dollars. Apart from this, the construction of 132 health centers has also been approved.