Nepal, Jan. 22 -- Prime Minister KP Oli and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi jointly inaugurated the Biratnagar-Jogbani integrated check post on Tuesday. The border crossing being the second busiest transit point for Nepal's trade, it will surely benefit from this facility. That the Customs Department had already started to use this facility in its unfinished form, as far back as October 2018, to ease congestion shows how important the investment in integrated infrastructure is for trade to flourish.

The government should be commended for finally completing this important milestone. Still, much more remains to be done to accelerate commerce and to mitigate congestion at border points. For one, India has already approved the building ...