Indian embassy's camp office in Nepal's Biratnagar to be shut down

Indian embassy’s camp office in Nepal’s Biratnagar will soon be shut down and re-located, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Monday.

During his visit to Nepal last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed this decision to Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

The Biratnagar camp office, according to the MEA, was opened in 2008 to deal with the situation arising out of devastating Koshi floods.

‘The purpose for which this camp office was opened has been fulfilled. GoI (Government of India) had already decided to wind up the Camp Office and re-locate the personnel. This decision was conveyed by Prime Minister Modi to his Nepalese counterpart during his visit to Nepal last week. The PM of Nepal thanked PM (Narendra Modi) for informing him about this decision,’ MEA's official spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

In 2008, Nepal allowed India to set up a temporary field office to issue passes for vehicles to ply Indian roads in the nearby regions after a 17 km stretch of the East-West highway was damaged due to Koshi floods, according to Kathmandu Post.

The office initially was set up in Sunsari. It was later shifted to Biratnagar. Currently, it is located at Malaya Road on the Koshi Highway. 

During his visit, PM Modi had said that Nepal is on top of India's 'Neighbourhood First' policy, and both countries are incomplete without each other. 

"Without Nepal, India's faith is incomplete. Without Nepal, India's history is incomplete. Without Nepal, India's dhams are incomplete. Without Nepal, our Ram is incomplete," PM Modi said.

He said the two neighbours can work on 5Ts — Tradition, Trade, Tourism, Technology and Transport — to achieve progress and prosperity.

It was the first high-level visit from India since the formation of a new government in Nepal this year.

The Modi government has identified 15 Indian destinations, including Ayodhya, Nandigram, Hampi and Nagpur, for development under the Ramayana Circuit theme.