India has formed the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) to review treaties and relations between the two countries. 

Former Indian ambassador to Nepal Jayant Prasad, ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s Nepal expert Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, Professor Mahendra P Lama and Professor BC Upreti, a senior fellow at the Vivekananda International Foundation have been named as the members. 

An agreement to establish the EPG was reached in 2011 during the official visit of former prime minister Baburam Bhattarai to India. The two countries agreed to prepare the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the EPG in 2014 during the third meeting of Nepal-India Joint Commission in Kathmandu. 

Nepal formed its EPG last month. Former secretary and chief commissioner of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority Surya Nath Upadhyay, former ambassador Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, former ambassador Nilambar Acharya and UML lawmaker Rajan Bhattarai are the EPG members from the Nepali side. 

Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar made the announcement of formation of the EPG on Saturday during a press briefing coinciding with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s six-day visit to India. 

• Jayant Prasad, former ambassador to Nepal 
• Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, BJP leader
• Prof Mahendra P Lama
• Prof BC Upreti, senior fellow at Vivekananda International Foundation 

• Surya Nath Upadhyay, former chief commissioner, CIAA 
• Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, former ambassador 
• Nilambar Acharya, former ambassador
• Rajan Bhattarai, UML lawmaker