Nepal Foreign Affairs (KATHMANDU, 16 August 2018) – The Eminent Persons Group on Nepal-India relations today on Wednesday urged all not to speculate and wait until its report was published.
The ninth and final meeting of the group on June 30 had finalized its report to be submitted to the two governments. The EPG, whose two-year tenure ended on July 3, had been mandated to come up with a report on anything that needs to be updated, adjusted or amended in all exiting bilateral treaties, agreements, understandings, including the Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1950.
The group, however, has not made public the details of the joint report and has said the details will be made public by the two governments. “Following the understanding of the joint team, the content of the report is yet to be made public,” the group said in a statement today.
The group said it was awaiting the date of appointment from the two heads of governments to submit the report.
“News, comments and reports that appeared in different Nepali and Indian media is purely based on speculation and partial understanding of the subject,” read the statement signed by Secretary at the EPG Secretariat in Kathmandu Yadav Khanal. “The Eminent Persons’ Group, therefore, is not responsible for any media comments and remarks on the work of the EPG,” the statement added.
The body has four members each from Nepal and India. Nepali EPG members include former foreign minister Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, former chief commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority Surya Nath Upadhyay, former law minister Nilamber Acharya and leader of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) leader Rajan Bhattarai.
The Indian EPG members are senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Bhagat Singh Koshyari, former vice-chancellor of Sikkim University Mahendra Lama, former Indian ambassador to Nepal Jayant Prasad and Vivekananda International Foundation Senior Fellow BC Upreti.