Round The World
New
Delhi, 9 June 2023
India-Nepal Ties
REACHING HIMALAYAN HEIGHTS!
By Dr D. K. Giri
(Secretary General, Assn for Democratic
Socialism)
Nepal’s
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, aka ‘Prachanda’ was on a four-day visit to
India from 31 May to 3 June. It was his first foreign sojourn after taking over
as the Prime Minister since the last elections in December 2022. Unless we
reckon with the diplomatic hyperboles, the visit was a flying success as evidenced
from the statements of Prachanda and Prime Minister Modi.
Prachanda
profiled his visit on a press briefing at the Tribhuvan International Airport
as an astounding success. Modi had told Prachanda in Hyderabad House in New
Delhi, where they had their deliberations, that the bilateral ties should reach
the Himalayan heights. Prachanda said the following, “Modiji emphasised on
Nepal-India relations stating that it should be higher than Himalayas. PM Modi
referred to his visit to Nepal in 2014 calling it a hit. Now we should work
towards making our relations super-hit.”
At any
rate, Prachanda’s visit was significant and was different from his previous
ones in 2004, 2002 and 1996. First, it was a bit surprising to see him in
Nepalesenational outfit–daurasuruwal, given his Communist upbringing;
second, he preferred New Delhi as his first port of call to Beijing unlike his
predecessor, KP Oli, who had decidedly a pro-China tilt; third,Prachanda had in
the past threatened a ‘tunnel-war’ against India and was critical of New
Delhi’s perceived micro-management of Kathmandu. Fourth, as any politician
anywhere, he was reflecting the political pragmatism in the lines of the
axiomatic expression of Otto von Bismarck, “politics is the art of the possible….”
Remember,
he is leading a coalition of his own party Maoist Centre, which won only 32
seats in Parliament, and Nepali Congress with maximum of 88 seats and Madhesi
Party in a fractured verdict, for the 275-memberHouse. He had initially aligned
with Oli’s Unified Marxist-Leninist Party which secured 79 seats but broke away
from it as Oli insisted on having his candidate as the President. Prachanda
then embraced Nepali Congress by supporting their Presidential candidate.
Before
we discuss his ‘successful visit’ it is necessary to recognise the fragile
domestic power-play in Nepal that produces a new surprise every month. Interestingly,
since Nepal became a Republic in 2008, it has had a new government every year.
Prachanda could consolidate the ‘accomplishments’ resulting out of his visit if
he could keep his alliance going for the full term. One of the successes he
pulled out of his bag in the said press conference is the landmark agreement
for India to import 10,000 mega watt power from Nepal in coming 10 years. Hydropower
is Nepal’s the biggest economic asset. Generating and supplying it to India
could be a game changer. This will replace fossil-fuel based power generation.
It may
be recalled that Nepal was importing power from India, now with India’s support
it is the other way around.Even more important, India agreed to allow Nepal to
sell power to Bangladesh using the Indian transmission network. The three countries
India, Nepal and Bangladesh will work out an agreement in the near future.
In all,
seven agreements were signed up, three completed infrastructure projects were
inaugurated, and three more launched virtually. The agreements and
deliberations covered trade and transit, motorable bridges, hydropower trade,
cross-border railways, petroleum pipelines, irrigation, inundation and flood
control, agriculture and civil aviation, etc.
The
seven agreements included Integrated Check-Posts (ICPs) to facilitate trade
transport between the two countries. Second is the renewal of India-Nepal
Transit Treaty 1992 with new facilities for the first time of inland waterway
along with rail routes. Third was an MoU on cooperation in the field of
petroleum infrastructure. Fourth, MoU between the Institute of Foreign Affairs
Nepal and Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Services Delhi. Fifth, MoU for the
development of Phukot-Karnali 480 MW hydro project. Sixth, project development
agreement of Lower Arul 669 (MW) hydro power. Already a 900 MW Arul 3 and 490
MW Arul 4 projects are ongoing. And, the seventh, MoU between Nepali Cleaning
House Limited and National PaymentCompany India Limited for quicker
cross-border payment for business, students and tourists, both of Nepal and India.
In addition, it was decided to set up a fertilizer plant in Nepal with the
participation of public and private sector entities that will benefit Nepali
agriculture.
Prachanda
knows India too well. He had spent time as a Maoist insurgent in India fighting
against Nepal monarchy. India is the biggest trading partner of Nepal, so
Prachanda chose to appreciate Modi’s achievements at home and abroad, in
particular the G-20 leadership New Delhi is providing. He agreed to take the
diplomatic route to solve the contentious territorial issues. In 2019,
Nepal-India relations had nosedived for various reasons including a territory
comprisingKalapani, Lipulekh trijunction and Susta region of West Champaran
(Bihar), which were shown in maps of both the countries.
However,
let us not overlook the elephant in the room, China while discussing India and
Nepal. Geopolitically, Nepal is sandwiched between China and India while
Beijing wants to grab influence on Kathmandu as New Delhi tries to maintain its
traditional friendship and proximity. Now the United States appears to have
jumped into the fray. Prachanda came against a backdrop of a Bill which was
signed by the Nepali Presidentinto a law, which allows Indian women married to
Nepali men to acquire citizenship without the earlier provision of seven-years
cooling off period. It was earlier opposed by the Chinese who feared Tibetans
staying in India getting Nepali citizenship.
On the
part of India, New Delhi has to be conscious of the perceived ‘big-brother’
attitude to its neighboursmainly Nepal with which it has strong and special
cultural ties. Madhesis (people of Indian origin) in Nepaltreat India for what
they call roti-beti relation, meaning for marriage and a shared culture.
India had in the past fallen into the emotional trap of supporting the Madhesis
vis-à-vis the Republic of Nepal. Supporting the ‘blockade’ erected by Madhesis
should ring a bell. Some of us had suggested then that it should be a country-to-country
relation not just with Madhesis even though their demands were genuine. A new
chapter seems to have ushered in with Prachanda’s visit as a supposedly
anti-India Maoist leader is warming up to New Delhi.---INFA
(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)
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