Its final: India says it could extend the 1996 trade treaty with Nepal one more time. On the sidelines of the SAARC summit, Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said, "The (trade) Treaty has already been extended for three months. It the need arises it can be extended further." There is a catch though. Foreign minister Jaswant Singh said this would be done only if the volume of controversial Nepali exports remains below a certain acceptable level.

Another issue Singh touched upon was the requirement of specific travel documents by Indians wanting to visit Nepal, a major reason why fewer Indian tourists are coming here. India's "security concerns" is the reason Indians are required to have passports or voter IDs. Singh said these were only "temporary" measures. "The intention is not to harm Nepal's tourism industry," he added. "The facility of free movement.was being misused by some elements." There was, however, no pronouncement on when and how the temporary measure could be scrapped-maybe something for Shital Niwas to follow up.