After the governments of both countries decide to accept the draft, the agreement will be signed at the highest level
What you should know
The home secretary-level meeting between Nepal and India has reached an agreement on the draft mutual legal assistance agreement between the two countries. After the governments of both countries decide to accept the draft, the agreement will be signed at the highest level. In the absence of this agreement, the two countries are not able to cooperate legally and formally to prevent international criminal activities.
The home secretary level meeting held in Delhi on Wednesday finalized the draft prepared for the agreement. Spokesperson of the Ministry of Home Affairs Ramchandra Tiwari, who participated in the meeting, said that agreement has been reached on the draft at the technical level. The meeting could not agree on the extradition treaty. It is the conclusion of the meeting that more discussions will be held about it in the coming days.
In a statement released by the Press Information Bureau of India, the meeting has welcomed the finalization of the draft of the Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement. In addition, it is mentioned in the statement that it was agreed in the meeting to complete the extradition treaty as soon as possible.
Nepal and India have met after 9 years at the Home Secretary level. Home spokesperson Tiwari said that the meeting was mainly focused on the control of cross-border crime. "There was a discussion to emphasize cooperation for cross-border crime control, to increase information exchange," he said.
Officials of both countries have agreed to exchange information on early warning of disasters such as natural disasters, to strictly control human trafficking, counterfeit notes and drug trade. Similarly, both the countries are going to give priority to the issue of increasing 'intelligence sharing' for the control of various types of crime. It was also agreed in the meeting to increase surveillance in the border area, to repair the damaged border pillars and to increase the meetings of the 'Border Coordination Committee' at the district level.
