India plans to improve links with Nepal

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, shakes hand with Nepalese Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli as they arrive for a bilateral meeting at Hyderabad house in New Delhi, India, on April 7, 2018. (AP)

NEW DELHI: India plans to upgrade road and cross-border rail links with Nepal and develop inland waterways to connect with the landlocked Himalayan nation.
Narendra Modi, prime minister, said India would also help Nepal’s agriculture through organic farming, soil testing and education in farming. Both countries hope to cooperate on a new rail link connecting Katmandu, Nepal’s capital, with India.
Khadga Prasad Oli, who recently took over as Nepal’s prime minister, is on a three-day visit to India. He promised to build a strong edifice of trust with his much larger neighbor.
India’s main worry is that Nepal may now lean more toward China as Oli heads a government of communist parties. But India surrounds Nepal on three sides and provides oil and other goods to the country. AP
India extended a $1 billion credit line to Nepal for infrastructure development in 2015. AP