Oli to take up currency ban issue with pm modi

Oli to take up currency ban issue with pm modi

During his 6-8 April visit to India, Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli is expected to ask the Indian leadership to resolve the long-pending issue of allowing the people of his country to exchange banned Indian currency with valid legal tender, diplomatic sources said here on Sunday.

The people of the Himalayan nation have been grappling with a massive crisis ever since India demonetised its currency in November 2016 as part of the drive against black money and corruption. The note ban had severely affected both the business community and the working class in Nepal, particularly the people who often travel to India.

Different sections of society in Nepal have appealed to their leadership to take up the issue with New Delhi so as to bring relief to the people possessing scrapped Indian currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000.

Sources noted that the Nepal Rastra Bank, the central bank of the country, has taken up with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) the issue of banned Indian currency notes that Nepalis possess, but to no avail. The Indian government had earlier assured Nepal of exchanging the invalid notes. However, the issue still remained unresolved, sources added.

Sources also stated that Oli has instructed his aides not to prepare a heavy agenda for his crucial visit to India. “The Prime Minister favours reaching agreements that are result-oriented and can be implemented in a time-bound manner,’’ they added, pointing out that many of the development projects announced by the two countries in the past were yet to be fully implemented.

Meanwhile, Oli’s decision to choose New Delhi over Beijing for his first overseas travel after assuming office as PM has come as a pleasant surprise to mandarins at the External Affairs Ministry. The relationship would have indeed suffered another setback had Oli decided in favour of visiting China, thus breaking the traditional practice of every Nepali head of government visiting India first.

“The upcoming visit will provide an opportunity to the two sides to review wide-ranging cooperative partnership and to progress it further for the benefit of the two peoples,’’ the External Affairs Ministry said.