On Thursday, the Union Cabinet approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Nepal for the development of a bridge over the Mahakali river at Dharchula in Uttarakhand.

I&B Minister Anurag Thakur told the media that the MoU between India and Nepal would be inked in the "near future", and the bridge will be achieved within three years.

The development of the bridge will benefit people living in Dharchula in Uttarakhand and the territory of Nepal.

Thakur told the media that as close neighbours, India and Nepal share special ties of friendship and cooperation depicted by an open border and deep-rooted people-to-people contacts of kinship and culture.

The diplomatic relations between the two nations will further enhance with the inking of the MoU, an official statement said.

He said that India and Nepal have been together working on diverse regional forums like the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), and the global fora.

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