Indian Ambassador holds talks with Nepal's Industry Minister on bilateral trade ties

Kathmandu: Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Sudhakar Dalela, called on Nepal’s Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Deepak Kumar Sah on Monday as he began his diplomatic engagements following arrival in Nepal.

Dalela, who succeeded Naveen Srivastava as India’s Ambassador to Nepal, arrived in the country last week to assume his new role and held talks with Minister Sah on Monday.

“They exchanged views on further strengthening and expanding bilateral trade and economic ties,” the Indian Embassy said in a social media post.

Minister Sah’s secretariat also said that the two discussed ways to strengthen and expand bilateral trade and economic relations.

India is Nepal’s largest trading partner, serving as the biggest market for Nepali exports and the largest source of imports. It is also the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Nepal, according to official data.

India accounted for 57.7 per cent of Nepal’s total imports in fiscal year 2025-26, which ended in mid-July, while the southern neighbour was the destination for 82 per cent of Nepal’s total exports, according to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) statistics.

India remained the largest source of FDI in Nepal, accounting for 32.8 per cent of the country’s total FDI stock as of mid-July 2025. China followed with 9.3 per cent, Ireland with 7.3 per cent, Australia with 6.5 per cent and Singapore with 5.4 per cent, according to an NRB report released in September.

India provides duty-free access to almost all Nepali goods under the Nepal-India Trade Treaty. However, the two countries are discussing amendments to the agreement at Nepal’s request, although the treaty was automatically renewed for another seven years in 2023.

During a meeting of the Nepal-India Inter-Governmental Sub-Committee (IGSC) on Trade, Transit and Cooperation to Control Unauthorised Trade in September, the two sides agreed to amend the trade treaty in response to Nepal’s request.

Nepali officials have said that Nepal is seeking several changes to the treaty, including the provision of duty-free preferences for primary agricultural products based on the principle of reciprocity. They argue that Nepali agricultural products are unable to compete with their Indian counterparts provided Nepal also grants same treatment to Indian agriculture products.

Nepal also wants to address obstacles to its exports to India arising from the requirement for Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification for various Nepali products, officials said.

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