COVID-19 vaccine, boundary dispute on Nepal foreign minister’s agenda during India visit

New Delhi, Jan 08: The sixth Nepal-India Joint Commission meeting between Foreign Minister, S Jaishankar and his Nepal counterpart, Pradeep Gyawal will take place on January 14.

The meeting is an important one and would demonstrate India's support to Nepal and its people and the K P Sharma Oli government as well. Oli had dissolved Parliament stating that his rivals were hindering the decision making process. China's attempts to patch up the warring factions also fell flat.

Top on the agenda of the meeting would be the COVID-19 vaccine. New Delhi is likely to give a clear commitment on the supply of over 12 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. While China has offered its Sinovac vaccine, Nepal is inclined towards the Indian vaccines.

In this regard, Nepal's ambassador to India, Nilamber Acharya held several rounds of talks with the Indian vaccine manufacturers and government officials. He also held a meeting with Dr. V Krishna Mohan, the executive director of Bharat Biotech, which is producing the COVID-19 vaccine.

During the meeting of Pradeep Gyawal and Jaishankar, the two are likely to discuss the boundary dispute. This had soured relations between the two countries after Kathmandu had issued a new political map.