Kathmandu: Top diplomats of India and Nepal held a digital meeting on Monday to review the progress of various development projects being carried out in Nepal with the help of India. This meeting took place after Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli congratulated his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on India’s 74th Republic Day. This is the first high-level dialogue between the two countries after Nepal’s bilateral relations with India became strained after the release of a new political map in May.

According to sources in the Nepal Foreign Ministry, Nepalese Foreign Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi and Indian Ambassador to Nepal Vijay Mohan Kwatra led their respective country’s delegations in this review meeting. Sources said that in this meeting held through digital medium due to the Corona virus epidemic, various developmental projects being carried out in Nepal with the help of India were reviewed. Further information about the meeting is not available.

On May 8, India’s Defense Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the strategically important 80-km-long road connecting Dharchula in Uttarakhand to the Lipulekh pass, after which there was tension in the relations between the two countries. Nepal protested against this and claimed that this road passes through its territory.

Soon after this, Nepal released a new political map, showing Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura in its territory. In June, Nepal’s Parliament approved the new political map of the country, to which India strongly objected.