KATHMANDU: In a major step toward deepening bilateral ties, Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal and India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held official high-level talks in New Delhi, concluding with a series of milestone agreements and project handovers.

The bilateral meeting focused heavily on expanding cooperation in innovation, startups, and digital public infrastructure.

As a prime highlight of these talks, the ministers officially launched a peer-to-peer personal remittance service linking India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Nepal’s National Payments Interface (NPI), a landmark integration designed to make cross-border digital financial transactions seamless for citizens of both nations.

Technological collaboration was further solidified with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Digital India Bhashini and Kathmandu University to develop a “Voice First” language translation platform.

In addition to financial and digital technology partnerships, both sides officially welcomed the completion of internal procedures necessary to implement the Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement in criminal matters.

This security pact formalizes a vital framework to control cross-border crime, institutionalize joint investigations, and streamline judicial processes between the neighboring countries.

The ministerial talks also featured the formal handover of massive infrastructure support, with India officially transferring 84 completed projects to Nepal under its post-2015 earthquake reconstruction assistance program.

This extensive package includes 72 completed health facilities and 12 cultural heritage conservation projects.

Following the productive session with his counterpart, Foreign Minister Khanal also held a high-level meeting with India’s National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval.