Nepal, India need to update ties: Dy PM

Nepal and India need to “update” their ties to reflect the people-to-people relations at the government level, deputy Prime Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara said yesterday.Mahara, who also holds the foreign affairs portfolio, said the “age-old ties” at the government level might be “fluctuated” but the people-to-people ties cannot swing.Speaking at an event here, he called for strengthening the bilateral ties.He drew attention towards the changing perspective in the bilateral ties since the end of monarchy in Nepal in 2008. “Therefore, we need to update bilateral perspectives,” he said.Mahara praised the Indian government for providing support to Nepal in various sectors including health, education, agriculture and infrastructure developmental.In another event last week, Mahara said Nepal should grab the maximum benefits from China’s development and growing economic prosperity.Inaugurating the newly registered organisation “Nepal Chinese Guide Association,” an umbrella body of all the Nepali guides working for the Chinese tourists under different travel and trekking companies, Mahara expressed that the Himalayan country has high hopes from China’s Belt and Road Initiative.“We are very happy with the development of China and we believe Nepal needs to learn a lot from China’s economic prosperity. It’s high time we need to gain benefits from such prosperous neighbour under newly launched initiatives like the Belt and Road,” Mahara said.Mentioning about the booming tourism, Mahara said that Nepali guides are the true ambassadors to boost the bilateral ties between the two neighbours, especially in enhancing people-to-people relations.According to the Nepal Chinese Guide Association, it has 250 qualified and trained members in total who have proficiency in Chinese language and culture.China is the second largest tourist source market for Nepal after the southern neighbour India. According to government statistics, Chinese tourist arrivals jumped to nearly 100,000 in 2016.“In recent years, Chinese tourists have sustained Nepal’s tourism industry. Realising its importance and to contribute to national economy, we all guides are moving ahead in an organised manner,” Apulal Awale, president, Nepal Chinese Guide Association, said.