Nepal Foreign Affairs (KATHMANDU, 16 March 2017) – The Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bimalendra Nidhi on Thursday held separate meetings with the Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at their respective offices in New Delhi.
During both meetings, Minister Nidhi raised with serious concern the matter of the unfortunate incident of killing of an innocent Nepali national, Govinda Gautam due to fire opened by the Indian security forces at Nepal-India border near Anandabazar at Punarbas Municipality- 8 of Kanchanpur District on March 9, 2017.
He mentioned that the forensic and post mortem reports requested by the Indian side had been shared and urged the Government of India to immediately investigate into the matter, share the findings of the investigation and bring the guilty to justice, mentions the press statement issued by Nepali Embassy in New Delhi.
Both the senior Ministers of India expressed grief over the death of the Nepali national. They assured that the Indian side would expeditiously investigate the incident in impartial manner and in close cooperation with the concerned authorities on the Nepali side. ”They also assured that upon completion of the investigation, appropriate actions would be taken against anyone responsible for the incident” the statement further adds.
The Indian side didn’t apologize on this serious criminal act committed by their border security force -Seema Sashastra Bal (SSB). According to the sources, Minister Nidhi just touched upon the issue with moderate approach without specifying what India should do. Minister Nidhi was focused to build up his personal rapport with the leaders of Indian government and opposition parties considering his future political career.
He didn’t want to enter into controversial issues rooted between two countries. Underscoring the need of early completion of ongoing boundary works including the construction of boundary pillars, both sides agreed to mobilize additional joint teams of Survey officials in the field.
During the meetings, Minister Nidhi congratulated the Government of India on the successful conclusion of the recently held State Assembly elections. He shared that local level elections will be held in Nepal on May 14 this year followed by the elections at provincial and federal levels and requested for Government of India’s logistics support for the elections as was done in the past.
The Deputy Prime Minister/Ministers from both sides agreed on the need of expediting the implementation of the ongoing development cooperation projects.
Deputy Prime Minister Nidhi is in New Delhi to participate in the Counter Terrorism Conference 2017 being organized by India Foundation, a New Delhi based think tank, on March 14-16, 2017. He is returning home tomorrow.