The joint meeting of Nepal and India Eminent Persons’ Group (EPG) has failed to take place even three months after the two sides announced the names of EPG members.

The EPG was formed to look into Nepal-India ties, including reviewing existing bilateral treaties, and make recommendations to the respective countries

Members of the EPG and diplomatic sources said that despite Nepal’s request to hold the first meeting, the Indian side is yet to communicate its response.

In March, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa wrote to his Indian counterpart, Sushma Swaraj, requesting her to co-chair the first meeting of EPG in Kathmandu.

But Swaraj, according to officials, turned down the request, saying that EPGs are autonomous entities and that the responsibility

[to hold meetings and take things forward] lies with the coordinators of the EPG from both sides.

Former minister and ambassador Bhekh Bahadur Thapa and Bhagat Singh Koshyari, former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh of India are coordinators of the EPG from respective countries.

The Indian side has also stated that the EPG has been already communicated that it can decide on their own about the meetings.

Initially, the Indian side had told the Nepali side that it had moved the secretariat of the EPG from Indian Council of World Affairs to Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis.

“The meeting cannot take place without India’s participation, but we are not sure when the meeting will take place. So we have been collecting documents, analysing them and taking suggestions from various sectors,” said Thapa, who is the coordinator from the Nepali side in the EPG.

“We have failed to understand why the Indian side is not ready for the meeting even after our invitation,” he added. “There are high expectations, and we are also very eager to hold the meeting[s].”

The secretariat of Nepali EPG is on the premised of the Department of Passport.

Nepal and India have already released $100,000 to run the secretariat.