Kathmandu, Nepal: A meeting of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) on Nepal-India relations is going to be commenced from coming Friday in Kathmandu. The two daylong meeting is going to be held just days before the mandate of the EPG is going to expire. Two-year mandate of the EPG is going to expire on July 4.
As the EPG has failed to settle the key contentious issues related to the bilateral relations between the two countries, it is likely that the scheduled meeting will demand tenure expansion rather than setting the issues through the final negotiation.
We are not willing tenure extension but committed on submitting one joint report by July 4, Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, who leads the Nepal side of the EPG, said. However, he is not sure that the EPG will be able to submit the joint report settling the remaining issues within the deadline.
Though the EPG was formed with the mandate of reviewing all the past accords and treaties including the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the two countries, it has to settle key contentious issues including some provision of the treaty.
Nepali side has a demand that the treaty has to be revised as per the changing context, but the Indian side seems indifferent even though our demand is not rejected yet, another EPG member of from the Nepali side said preferring anonymity.
As we have settled almost all the issues through the negotiations during the past two years, we do expect that the EPG will be able to reach on an agreement on a single joint report; Thapa said hinting that time would be extended again on the name of seeking consensus.
