Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba has called for an early convening of the Boundary Working Group (BWG) between Nepal and India. The bilateral mechanism is mandated to carry out field work along the Nepal-India border, including the construction, restoration and repair of boundary pillars, clearing the no-man’s land, and other technical tasks, excluding the disputed Susta and Kalapani areas.

The issue was raised during a meeting between Deuba and Munu Mahawar, an additional secretary who is in-charge of the Nepal and Bhutan desk at India’s Ministry of External Affairs, also known as the north desk in South Block.

According to Nepali officials, both sides agreed to resume and continue meetings of all bilateral mechanisms, including the BWG, through both formal and informal discussions.

During his first visit to Nepal since taking charge of the Nepal-Bhutan desk, Mahawar paid a courtesy call on Foreign Minister Deuba on Wednesday and discussed issues of mutual interest, including early resumption of the BWG meeting, which has been postponed for over five years.

Deuba emphasised the importance of BWG in resolving border-related issues and called for an immediate meeting, said a statement issued by Deuba’s private secretariat.

Though no specific date was proposed, both sides agreed to resume the meeting soon, said a senior foreign ministry official. “Several important bilateral meetings have already been held and some are in the pipeline. There is a shared understanding to gradually resume and conclude all such meetings,” said the official.

The BWG was established during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Nepal in 2014 to address boundary matters, excluding Susta and Kalapani, at the director general-level of the Department of Survey.

In the last BWG meeting held in August 2019 in Kathmandu, both sides had agreed to complete the remaining task in the border areas by the end of 2022. But due to the Covid pandemic, no meetings were held for a couple of years.

“After the pandemic was over, we insisted on resuming the meeting, but the Indian side was reluctant to do so,” said the foreign ministry official, requesting anonymity.

The BWG was mandated to complete boundary works, including installing and repairing boundary pillars.

According to data from the Department of Survey, the two countries have installed 8,554 pillars along the border. Of these, 1,325 are missing, and 1,956 are partially or fully damaged. Below the BWG, there are two mechanisms—the Survey Officials’ Committee and Joint Field Survey Teams—that mobilise on the field and provide technical inputs to the BWG.

Joint teams have already been mobilised for tasks such as constructing, repairing and restoring boundary pillars, preparing an inventory of encroachments on no-man’s land and cross border occupations, and conducting GPS observations of boundary pillars.

Currently, some of these tasks are being handled by the Armed Police Force and India’s Sashastra Seema Bal, which, according to the foreign ministry official, is not the right mechanism to take up boundary-related issues. “To resume the meeting, we have sent several diplomatic notes to India but there is no response yet,” a foreign ministry official told the Post, requesting anonymity.

Indian reluctance to hold BWG meetings on a regular basis may have stemmed from the map dispute between Nepal and India, which started in November 2019.

During Wednesday’s meeting, Foreign Minister Rana recalled the discussions and agreements of the last joint commission meeting at the foreign ministerial level, held in Kathmandu, in January 2024.

The January 2024 meeting had directed the BWG to convene and take necessary action, said the statement issued by Deuba’s private secretariat, adding that both sides underscored the need for such meetings to improve bilateral relations and facilitate cooperation.

Besides pushing for the resumption of BWG meetings, the two sides discussed other bilateral engagements, noting the successful recent meetings of the India-Nepal Intergovernmental Committee and the Nepal-India Energy Meeting, both held in Kathmandu this month.

Some notable understandings were reached in both the meetings.

Foreign Minister Rana also urged the Indian government to prioritise Nepal's request for additional air routes and direct flights between India's various cities and newly-built Gautam Buddha and Pokhara International Airports, said the statement.

Nepal has long sought additional air routes, but India has been reluctant to allow more routes for Nepal-bound planes.

Additionally, she requested India's facilitation in the transport of equipment and construction materials through their territory for ongoing road construction from Darchula to Tinkar on the eastern side of the Mahakali River, an area facing logistical difficulties due to geographical difficulties, said the statement.

Nepal has already formally urged the Indian government for the same.

In the meeting, Rana had reiterated Nepal's strong commitment to strengthening bilateral relations and promoting cooperation for the mutual benefit of the citizens of both the countries, said the statement.

Mahawar, who arrived in Kathmandu on a familiarisation visit after taking charge of the Nepal-Bhutan desk, also led the Indian delegation at 5th meeting of Joint Project Monitoring Committee on post-reconstruction projects, on Monday. Padma Kuamar Mainalee, joint secretary at the Ministry of Urban Development, led the Nepali delegation in the meeting.

After the 2015 earthquakes, the Indian government had committed a $250 million grant for post-earthquake reconstruction in Nepal. The grant was allocated across four different sectors—Housing ($100m), Education ($50m), Health ($50m), and Cultural Heritage (50m). A Joint Project Monitoring Committee (JPMC) was set up in August 2017 to monitor the progress of these projects.

The latest meeting conducted a comprehensive review of progress of the Indian-assisted post-earthquake reconstruction projects in housing, education, health and cultural heritage sectors, according to an Indian embassy statement. The meeting also acknowledged successful completion of the projects agreed under the housing sector in 2021 and the education sector in 2024, the statement said.