India, Nepal Will Soon Finalize New MoU for Agricultural Cooperation

Nepal's visiting Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Mahendra Rai Yadav, met recently with Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar. During the meeting, Tomar assured Nepal of India's full cooperation.

In addition, the two countries agreed to quickly finalize a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for agricultural cooperation in order to make rapid progress on various bilateral agricultural issues.

In welcoming the Nepalese delegation to the bilateral meeting, Tomar stated that India and Nepal have long-standing and friendly relations, as evidenced by long-standing historical and cultural ties, open borders, and close people-to-people contacts.

Tomar spoke of strengthening cooperation with Nepal in all fields, including agriculture, and stated that India has made significant progress in agricultural and allied research and development. According to Tomar, Nepal can learn from the Indian agricultural system whenever necessary.

Nepalese Minister thanked Tomar and reaffirmed the two countries' cordial and friendly relations. He requested that Agriculture Minister Tomar extend cooperation in the fields of agriculture technology, Murrah buffalo breeding, border quarantine resolution, and animal vaccine supply, among other things.

Tomar assured the Nepal delegation that the issues raised would be resolved as soon as possible. In addition to congratulating the Nepalese Minister and other delegates on their visit to India, Tomar sought Nepal's support for India's candidacy for the Presidency of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

About IFAD:

IFAD is an international financial institution and specialized United Nations agency that works in the field of poverty eradication in developing countries rural areas by providing grants and low-interest loans for allied projects.

It assists marginalized and vulnerable groups such as small-scale farmers, foresters, pastoralists, fishermen, and small-scale entrepreneurs with disaster preparedness, access to weather information, technology transfer, and social learning.