After years of negotiations, Nepal and India on Tuesday signed the Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, enabling the two countries to cooperate in criminal investigations and legal proceedings. The pact was signed in Kathmandu.

The updated agreement, which was initially agreed at a home secretary-level meeting in New Delhi in July last year, formalises cooperation on criminal matters. Nepal and India also signed a similar agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters and an extradition treaty in 2005. However, even as the agreement on criminal matters has been signed, negotiations on the new extradition treaty are yet to be finalised.

The agreement aims to strengthen cooperation in the investigation, prosecution, and judicial processes related to criminal cases, according to a statement from the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.

The pact was signed on behalf of the government of Nepal by Joint Secretary Binod Kumar Bhattarai, while Indian ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava signed on behalf of the government of India. Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Anil Kumar Sinha, ministry officials, and representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were present on the occasion.

The Cabinet on October 16, 2025, had authorised the ministry to move ahead with this long-pending task.

“The agreement is aimed at facilitating the exchange of legal assistance between the two countries on criminal matters, including evidence collection, information sharing and coordination between competent authorities during investigations and court proceedings,” said the statement.

The agreement will come into force once both sides notify diplomatic channels about the signing. A formal mechanism will be established to facilitate cooperation in criminal investigations, prosecutions, and judicial proceedings. The pact will also help combat human trafficking, drug trafficking, financial crimes, terrorism-related offenses, and organised crime, and enable officials and law enforcement agencies to investigate and address these issues effectively.

After the previous extradition treaty signed in 1953 expired several decades ago, officials and law enforcement agencies from both the countries have relied on mutual understandings for criminal investigations and transfers of suspected criminals. Tuesday’s signing of the pact provides both sides with a legal framework to jointly conduct criminal investigations in cross-border cases.

According to the Ministry of Law Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, the agreement is expected to strengthen the rule of law, enhance institutional coordination in justice administration, and make cooperation between central authorities of the two countries more effective and result-oriented.

The agreement is also expected to contribute to curbing financial crimes, improving investigations and prosecutions, and supporting efforts related to anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism. The pact will address transnational crime and facilitate information exchange, sharing of investigative evidence, cooperation in prosecutions, and coordination in criminal investigations between the two countries’ legal bodies.

In the absence of a dedicated mutual legal assistance and extradition framework, security officials have long faced legal and administrative hurdles in handing over criminals to each other.

“The agreement provides a framework for faster, structured cooperation to counter transnational crimes such as terrorism, trafficking, smuggling, cybercrime, and financial frauds,” an official privy to the negotiations during the home secretary-level meeting in Delhi told the Post.

Since Nepal was placed on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’s grey list in February 2025, the agreement is also expected to help the country come off the list, said Joint Secretary Bhattarai.

Nepal has already reached a similar agreement with its northern neighbour, China. A mutual legal assistance deal was signed during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Nepal visit in October 2019.

Nepal and India initially signed the draft extradition treaty in 2005 at the home

secretary level, but negotiations were deferred due to differences on several provisions.

While preparations to update the treaty are underway, the two countries continue to disagree on the extradition of third-country nationals, which remains a major obstacle to a new treaty.