As the date for Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s India visit draws near, there is a divergence of views over the overall framing of the visit, which is taking place after four-month-long strained bilateral ties.

One school of thought suggests that the visit should be made political, concentrating solely on improving bilateral relations, while there are also strong opinions that it should be focused on securing tangible economic assistance from the southern neighbour.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has advised PM Oli’s team to focus on normalising relations through confidence-building measures. “This is not the right time to embark on a visit to India with a shopping list,” said a senior MoFA official.

MoFA officials say the success of the visit should not be measured in terms of the goodies the prime minister brings home. This MoFA advice is in contradiction of a long wish list forwarded by other line ministries. PM Oli’s own view on his visit is said to be somewhat in line with the MoFA advice.

Even as PM Oli and MoFA seem to be on the same page, Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel had presented a long wish list in New Delhi during his recent visit to New Delhi.

However, Bishnu Rimal, PM Oli’s chief political adviser, said he was not aware of it.  

During his meetings with his Indian counterpart Arun Jaitely and India’s Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi, Finance Minister Poudel had submitted a list of projects that “Nepal wants to discuss or sign” during PM Oli’s visit which starts from February 19.

Poudel had sought Indian assistance in new projects with Jaitley and Swaraj, including developing one reservoir type 250MW hydropower project and a line of credit to build  500MW hydroelectricity project. Poudel had also sought Indian assistance to build one national institute of technology, establish eight technical schools across the country, set up one Ayurveda University and a teaching hospital. Poudel had also called for Indian support to implement Pashupatinath Area Master Plan.

India is said to be interested in discussing early implementation of the Pancheshowr multipurpose project, construction of second international airport in Nijgadh, Bara with India assistance, Kathmandu-Tarai fast track and security related issues among others.

Sources said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa, during a recent briefing, had urged PM Oli that his visit should focus on restoring good ties with India, implementing past agreements and preparing new framework of cooperation.

Proposed shopping list

• $1 billion for reconstruction bid
• 250MW hydropower project on Indian aid
• 500MW hydroelectricity project with Indian line of credit
• Completion of Hulaki Road in five years
• Construction of cross border transmission lines
• Developing Bir Hospital as the state-of-art health care facility
• One national institute of technology
• Eight technical schools across the country
• One Ayurveda University
• A teaching hospital under Indian assistance
• Implementing Pashupatinath Area Master Plan