New Delhi, Sept. 18 -- India and Nepal are looking to ease bottlenecks in trade and transit as bilateral merchandise trade recovers from a two-year decline through fiscal year 2024 (FY24), with the two countries reviewing market access, customs procedures, border infrastructure and connectivity at a bilateral meeting earlier this week, India's commerce ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Bilateral merchandise trade between India and Nepal fell from a peak of about $11.02 billion in FY22 to $8.92 billion in FY23 and $7.87 billion in FY24-a cumulative decline of roughly 28.5%. It has since recovered to $9.39 billion in FY26, according to commerce ministry data published by the Embassy of India in Kathmandu.

India's exports to Nepal we...