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 of India in December 2001, substantial progress was made in identifying concrete areas and mechanisms for mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation between India and Nepal. 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 at a 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 official level, we have constitued two groups comprising key functionaries concerned with strategic and nuclear matters. They included the Department of Atomic Energy, the Ministry of External Affairs, the Armed Forces and my Office. These two groups were respectively mandated to draw up an acceptable separation plan, and to negotiate on this basis. The directive given to both groups was to ensure that our strategic nuclear programme is not compromised. So, my humble suggestion is that this point may be considered by the taxation enquiry commission. I agree that there is a brighter side of the picture and that instead of continually harping on our poverty. In regard to both these aspects.
