Nepal to asses India´s offer to supply machine readable passports

Kathmandu: International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), an UN agency, has officially informed the government that it cannot extend the April 1 deadline for introducing the high-tech machine readable passports (MRP) without obtaining mutual permission from its member countries.
This means that Nepal has to introduce the MRPs in the next 46 days at any cost as any traditional non-machine readable passports to be issued after the deadline will be invalid for international travel.
Meanwhile, a six-member delegation led by Chief of Protocol Mohan Krishna Shrestha is flying to India on Sunday to prepare an assessment report on India´s offer to supply MRPs to Nepal. India has offered to provide the high-tech passport at the cost of US$ 4 each.
But Shrestha and another official will fly to Indian only on Monday as Shrestha is facing a confirmation hearing in parliament Sunday as ambassador-nominee to France. Four members are leaving for Delhi on Sunday.
The team will be in India for five days to study the Indian offer and Nepal also will submit its requirement position before Indian officials, said a MoFA source.
14/02/10 Kiran Chapagain/Republica, Nepal

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Categories: Airports Feb 2010, Foreign Feb 2010