India, Nepal to review 1950 treaty

India and Nepal have agreed to review the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship, which has been the subject of considerable criticism in the Himalayan republic. According to a joint statement issued by the foreign ministry on Saturday on the completion of four-day visit by Nepal PM Madhav Kumar Nepal, the two countries also agreed to review other bilateral agreements “with a view to further strengthening the bilateral relationship’’. Earlier in the day, the two countries completed negotiations and initiated the revised Treaty of Trade and Agreement of Cooperation to Control Unauthorised Trade. The trade treaty, which has been negotiated for the last two years, aims at enlarging the scope of the existing institutional framework, under which India gives duty-free access to its market to goods manufactured in Nepal. Madhav Nepal and PM Manmohan Singh discussed security concerns relating to the open border between the two countries.