NICCI welcomes Nepal-India ministers' meet, urges faster implementation of economic, infrastructure initiatives

KATHMANDU: Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NICCI) has welcomed the meeting between Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal and India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, which took place in New Delhi on Saturday. 

Following the talks, the chamber urged faster implementation of economic and infrastructure initiatives between the two countries.

In its statement, NICCI said the talks reviewed trade and transit, connectivity, energy, development partnership and people-to-people ties. It noted renewed commitments from both governments to deepen cooperation in innovation, startups, digital technology, fintech and capacity building.

The chamber called the launch of the peer-to-peer linkage between India’s UPI and Nepal’s NPI a 'significant milestone,' saying it will ease cross-border remittances and support tourism and small-business transactions. It also welcomed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Digital India Bhashini and Kathmandu University as a step towards digital innovation and language technology collaboration.

However, while praising progress, NICCI urged both governments to prioritise modernising trade infrastructure and border facilities and to simplify customs and regulatory procedures.

The chamber also pressed for expansion of rail, road, air and multimodal links, and for the timely implementation of energy and infrastructure projects.

NICCI reiterated that infrastructure connectivity and energy cooperation remain central to Nepal-India economic relations. It called for accelerated work on hydropower projects, transmission lines and long-term power trade arrangements, and urged measures to promote bilateral investment and address non-tariff barriers.

The chamber said it supports the expansion of digital payment systems and stronger institutional dialogue between governments and the private sector. It pledged to work with stakeholders in both countries to strengthen trade, investment, connectivity and energy cooperation.