Bilateral talks likely to resume

Kathmandu, August 07: Bilateral talks between Bhutan and Nepal on finding a lasting solution to the issue of the exiled Bhutanese taking shelter in Nepal are likely to resume soon.

According to Kuensel, the government mouthpiece, the prime ministers from both the countries held talks on the sideline of the 15th SAARC summit in Colombo recently on possibility of restarting the bilateral talks.

Kuensel quoted Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley as saying that the two governments had agreed to continue the stalled talks.

Thinley further said he had told Nepalese Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala that Bhutan was "looking forward to continue the discussion so that the problem could be resolved as quickly as possible".

"I've reminded prime minister that we have been frustrated by the lack of a stable government in Nepal to continue the talks," he said.

Nepalese PM said he expected full cooperation from "democratic Bhutan" to discuss the issue and that the new government in Nepal would work closely with Bhutan to solve the refugee issue as soon as possible.

The bilateral talks between the two countries stalled indefinitely when a few exiled Bhutanese pelted stones at the Joint Verification Team in Khudunabari camp on December 22, 2003, irked by the conditions put forwarded by Bhutanese government for repatriation of those categorised eligible after the verification process.

The 15 rounds of talks between the two governments failed to yield any results. Bhutan News Service