The eighth meeting of the Project Steering Committee (PSC) of Nepalese and Indian officials for the construction of the Integrated Check Posts was held at New Delhi on 22 February 2018.

The meeting was co-chaired by the Secretary in the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of Nepal Deependra Nath Sharma and the Secretary for Border Management in the Government of India Braj Raj Sharma.

According to a press release issued by Embassy of India Kathmandu, during the meeting, the consultant for the Project M/s RITES Ltd briefed the delegates about the progress achieved in the construction of the ICPs at Birgunj and Biratnagar so far. RITES Ltd also updated the PSC on the preparations for the construction of ICPs at Bhairahawa and Nepalgunj. Both sides reviewed the progress in preparations for operationalizing the ICPs at Raxaul and Birgunj and agreed to resolve outstanding issues at the earliest.

India and Nepal signed a MoU for the construction of the ICPs at four cross-border points along the India–Nepal border. In the first phase, the construction of ICPs at Raxaul–Birgunj as well as Jogbani–Biratnagar was taken up. The ICPs will have state–of–the–art facilities, integrated customs and immigration services etc. for smooth cross–border movement of goods and services as well as passenger traffic.