India has pledged its full support and cooperation for March’s parliamentary elections and assured that it will provide logistical and other assistance as per Nepal’s requirements.

On Tuesday, Munu Mahawar, an additional secretary at India’s Ministry of External Affairs who is in charge of the Nepal and Bhutan desk, met separately with Prime Minister Sushila Karki; Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal; Finance Minister Rameshore Khanal; Energy Minister Kulman Ghising; Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supply, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, and Land Management, Cooperative and Poverty Alleviation Anil Kumar Sinha; and Minister of Information and Communication Technology Jagadish Kharel to deliver India’s assurance of full support for the elections.

He also held talks with foreign secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai.

Ajaya Bhadra Khanal, chief adviser to the prime minister, said that Munu had assured India’s full support to the snap parliamentary elections scheduled for March 5, 2026. Besides New Delhi’s willingness to support the elections, the Indian government, as per Nepal’s request, is in process of providing more than 600 different vehicles. These vehicles will be used by the Election Commission and security agencies during the election period.

During the meeting, the Indian side also raised concerns about the delay in holding the Boundary Working Group (BWG) and Survey Officials’ Committee (SOC) meetings in Nepal. During the last BWG meeting in New Delhi in July, it was agreed that the SOC meeting would be held in Kathmandu, but this has not taken place yet.

“The Indian side brought up the issue of delays in convening the BWG and SOC meetings. Upon SOC’s recommendation, the BWG meeting will be convened. This time Nepal should hold the meeting. But there have been no preparations or instructions from the foreign ministry, hence the delay,” said a Nepali official familiar with the boundary discussions.

The BWG is a joint body constituted by the governments of Nepal and India in 2014 to carry out construction, restoration and repair of boundary pillars and other technical tasks. Since boundary issues often affect bilateral ties, regular meetings of these mechanisms are essential to prevent disputes.

Since Prime Minister Karki leads an interim election government, formed after the September ouster of the KP Oli-led coalition by an anti-corruption movement, it has been hesitant to move forward on such crucial bilateral matters. It was also discussed that fieldwork could resume after the March elections, although the stalled meetings can be held ahead of the elections. In the last July meeting, updated modalities were adopted for the inspection, repair, and maintenance of boundary pillars along the Nepal-India border, and the need to use modern technologies for surveying and mapping to make BWG work more efficient.

Nepal and India have been holding regular bilateral meetings, which have not stopped even after the Gen Z movement. Likewise, delay in completing the construction of Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) was also figured during Tuesday’s meeting with Prime Minister Karki. Currently with Indian support, two ICPs are under construction at Bhairawaha in Rupahdehi district and at Dodhara-Chandani in Kanchanpur district. On Monday, Mahawar had visited the Bhairawaha ICP and reviewed the progress. But work on the ICP at Dodhara-Chandani is yet to start. The Indian side has shared a master list of items that need to be imported from India and requested customs waiver on them.

Finance Minister Khanal and Mahawar also discussed development cooperation between Nepal and India, among other things.

Likewise, during his meeting with Home Minister Aryal, Mahawar pledged to provide necessary resources and security logistics for the elections.

The home minister’s private secretariat stated that during the meeting, the Indian additional secretary also expressed a commitment to assist with post-earthquake reconstruction in Jajarkot, as well as the restoration and management of structures damaged by the disaster. Mahawar also extended an invitation to Aryal to visit India at an appropriate time.

At the meeting, Home Minister Aryal urged India to expedite the construction of the Dodhara-Chandani dry port.

He also emphasised the need to strengthen border security on both sides and make information exchange more effective to prevent border crimes, smuggling, trafficking of illegal goods, and other criminal activities, according to the Aryal’s private secretariat.

The meetings highlighted the steady progress in Nepal,cooperation and explored ways to further strengthen and expand this partnership, Indian Embassy in Kathmandu wrote on social media platform X.