Nepal PM to focus on Pancheshwar dam project during visit

The Mahakali Treaty, which deals with the Pancheshwar dam, is one of Deuba’s legacies

During his upcoming visit, Nepal’s Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is expected to focus on his personal experience of handling India-Nepal relations over multiple tenures as the PM of Nepal. Mr. Deuba will meet External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar here on Friday, soon after arriving from Kathmandu. The meeting will mark the beginning of high power interactions between the two sides since the eruption of the Kalapani territorial dispute in November 2019. 

“Both Kalapani and the multipurpose use of Himalayan waters are expected to be taken up by our side. Mr. Deuba was the Prime Minister during the signing of the Mahakali Treaty of 1996, when Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister of India, and he has a long history of service as Prime Minister of Nepal over multiple terms,” said former Ambassador and senior Nepali Congress party leader Deep Kumar Upadhyay, highlighting Mr. Deuba’s long institutional memory of the India-Nepal relationship.

Mr. Upadhyay said the Mahakali Treaty, which deals with the Pancheshwar dam, is one of Mr. Deuba’s legacies and the Nepalese leader wants to complete the long-pending project. The 5,600 MW Pancheshwar dam was conceived to ensure water supply for the Tanakpur side of Nepal during the lean season but it has remained incomplete till date. The multipurpose project was also opposed by environmentalists in view of the fragile nature of the Himalayas. The Mahakali river, which forms the boundary of India and Nepal, is also connected to the territorial dispute of Kalapani-Limpiyadhura-Lipulek as the river originates in the triangular area that is claimed by both the countries. 

The territorial issue recently received attention in Nepal after India’s Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari announced that Indian nationals will be able to visit the sacred site of Kailash-Manasarovar through Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand. It was implied that road infrastructure in that region will allow connectivity with the Lipulek pass.

Mr. Deuba will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday. “We, on the Nepalese side, don’t have a lot of time as the country will go into election mode and the meeting between the two leaders should be used to discuss expectations frankly. Mr. Modi should convey to Mr. Deuba frankly about what he expects from Nepal as our relation is unique and based on people-to-people ties and family networks,” Mr. Upadhyay said.