As far as bilateral relations are concerned, over the last one year or so, there has been, by and large, generally speaking, a substantial upswing in these relations, I could mention, for instance, Indo-Nepal relations. In the course of last one year, and indeed more than one year, Indo-Nepal relations have not merely been normalized but, in the recent past, have been strengthened and intensified. During the Nepalese prime minister's visit to India in December 2001, substantial progress was made in identifying concrete areas and mechanisms for mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation between India and Nepal. As many as five treaties and agreements were signed between the two countries for cooperation in a large number of areas such as trade, transit, control, of unauthorized trade agriculture, education, science and technology. A number of decisions were taken for cooperation in the key area of water resources development, thus, the two countries are moving towards a new era of mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation. In short, I may say that our relations with Nepal are at a splendid high level and perhaps they have never been as good as they are now. We would indeed improve on this spirit of fraternity and cooperation for further benefit of both our countries and people. At the very outset, I would like to mention that the idea of introducing a compulsory savings scheme is not a new one and has been under consideration for the past several years. In fact, as early as in 1998-99, the national development council had expressed a view in its favour, we are also trying to secure the cooperation of trade unions and employers for its introduction. As a result, however, of the situation created by the emergency and the paramount need for finding additional resources to meet the growing cost of development.
