India-Nepal joint commission to meet next week in New Delhi

​Kathmandu: The fourth meeting of the India-Nepal Joint Commission, the high level bilateral mechanism, is scheduled to be held in New Delhi next week, the Nepalese government said on Wednesday.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Nepalese counterpart Prakash Sharan Mahat will lead the two delegations at the October 26-27 meeting that will review and assess past agreements and commitments reached between the two countries, according to Foreign Ministry officials in Kathmandu.

The Joint Commission meeting to be held between the two foreign ministers will be followed by a Foreign Secretary -level meeting, the officials said.

During the recent state visit of Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' to India, both sides had agreed to hold the Joint Commission Meeting "at the earliest".

During the meeting discussions will be held on a wide range of bilateral issues and also focus on expediting the India-funded projects and setting up of a joint mechanism at the government level to monitor progress of these projects in Nepal.

Besides, the meeting will also chalk out a time-bound plan to complete the pending projects, they said.

The third meeting of the joint commission was held in Kathmandu in 2014 after a gap of more than two decades.