Facilitating trade and people’s movement, India and Nepal jointly inaugurate second ICP at Jogbani-Biratnagar

New Delhi, January 21: Enhancing the friendship shared by both the countries, India and Nepal have closely knitted their bilateral and diplomatic relations strongly. Furthering the ties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepal counterpart- KP Sharma Oli on Tuesday jointly inaugurate the second Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Jogbani-Biratnagar which was built with Indian assistance to facilitate trade and people’s movement between both the countries. This is the second ICP on his Nepal border. The first was built at the Raxaul-Birgunj border in 2018.

 

On the occasion, PM Modi said that “India is committed to simplify and ease traffic with all friendly countries in the neighbourhood and to further facilitate contacts between us in areas such as business, culture, education, etc.” He added that both countries are working on several cross-border connectivity projects such as road, rail, and transmission lines. “Integrated check posts at major border points between our countries are greatly facilitating mutual trade and movement,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Nepal PM said that the time is ripe for resolving all pending issues “through dialogue in the lasting interest of our two countries”. “Stable & majority government in both countries is an opportune moment. My govt remains committed to working closely with govt of India towards this,” KP Oli said.

Both Prime Ministers will also witness the remarkable progress in Indian government-assisted post-earthquake housing reconstruction projects in Nepal. The Indian government had committed to building as many as 50,000 houses in Gorkha and Nuwakot districts, of which 45,000 have already been built.