KATHMANDU, August 9

One year has passed since Nepal and India agreed to set up an expert group to review all existing bilateral treaties, including the Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1950.

The Eminent Persons Group (EPG) is however, yet to get shape, thanks to dilly-dallying on the part of Nepal.

This is the result of differences on possible names for EPG members between the two major coalition partners, Nepali Congress and CPN-UML, officials said.

The Indian side had already informed Nepal that their candidates were ready and would be announced when Nepal selects its members, officials said.

“It is sad to note that we not being able to select our candidates,” said a senior officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Nepal itself had proposed formation of the EPG and finalised a Terms of Reference (ToR) to this effect during the third Nepal-India Joint Commission meeting led between Foreign Minister Mahendra Bahadur Pandey and his counterpart Sushma Swaraj, in Kathmandu, in July 2014.

The two countries decided to send four persons each to the body. They include one parliamentarian, a representative from civil society, an economist and an expert on international law.

Foreign Minister Pandey claimed the formation of EGP was in its final stage and he would soon meet Prime Minister Sushil Koirala to appoint members for EPG. Earlier, he had given two names from CPN-UML ‘quota’ to the Prime Minister, however the latter wasn’t convinced by the names, sources said.

According to PM’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Dinesh Bhattarai, PM Koirala wants to choose persons who have gained eminence on the intricacies of Indo-Nepal ties, including the political and security implications. The PM also wants to make the body inclusive with the representation of one Madhesi and one woman. “We are searching for persons with in-depth knowledge of international law as well as security and boundary issues,” Bhattarai added.

As per the ToR, Nepal and India have already released US $ 100,000 to set up the EPG Secretariat in each country. The EPG has been mandated to review all existing agreements and has been asked for suggestions in order to update documents within two years.