Skip to main content

Bhattarai stresses on rebuilding Nepal-India ties



-Kamal Dev Bhattarai

Former Prime Minister and Coordinator of Naya Shakti Nepal Baburam Bhattarai has said that there is a lack of ‘proper understanding’ in India about Nepal. Speaking to Post before concluding his visit to India on Tuesday, leader Bhattarai said mainly young generation of India has some flawed understanding about Nepal and bilateral relations between the two countries. The former prime minister maintained that there is a need of dialogue, debate and discussions to rebuild the bilateral relations in the change political context Nepal and India.
Bhattarai made such remark after extensive discussions with Indian intellectual and policy makers during his seven-day stay in New Delhi.  Bhattarai underlined the need for building a bilateral relation between two countries at the top political levels. Bhattarai was of the view that there has been a huge change in the political scenario of both countries and bilateral relation should be rebuilt accordingly. He was referring that Nepal has entered into a new era after the promulgation of constitution in 2015 and there is the emergence of Bharatiya Janata Party as a single largest ruling party in India. 
“There should be dialogue at the top level regarding the interest of both countries. We should move ahead addressing those concerns,” Bhattarai said. He opined that India should not be engaged in micro-management of Nepal. “India’s interest in micro-management will only increase the anti-Indian sentiment in Nepal. It will benefit the parties like CPN-UML,” he said.  Bhattarai arrived here for attending a counter terrorism conference, holding talks with Indian side and participating in the party’s programs. Bhattarai, a senior Maoist party, has been consistently maintaining that differences with India should be resolved through diplomatic channel instead of taking to streets. During the insurgency in Nepal, leader Bhattarai was also accused of being soft to India. 
During his interaction, Bhattarai gave a message to the Indian side to reflect on its past positions. At the same time, he said, India too needs to reflect and look ahead. “It has historically played a role in Nepal’s internal politics. But India’s position has often been inconsistent, and its own priorities and messages have not been clear,” the former prime minister said. Bhattarai said though India emphasized the issue of inclusive constitution, it didn’t not support the pro-inclusion forces. “But if this was a priority for India, why did it not support pro-inclusion forces in the first CA. At that time, pro inclusion forces were stronger, Maoist and Madhes were in fact allies,” he said.  The first CA was dissolved without drafting a new constitution when Maoist was the largest party.
He said there is a need of clear commitment from India for Nepal’s economic development. “Our priority for now is economic growth, infrastructure and prosperity. We cannot achieve this without India’s active support,” he added. In all interactions, Indian diplomats and policy makers appreciated his role to integrate the Maoist combatants when he was prime minister in 2011 and peaceful democratic transition of Maoist party.
During his stay in the Indian Capital, Bhattarai met General Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party Ram Madav, and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, among other leaders. Though his visit would not affect the national politics, it has contributed to kick-start a fresh debate on rebuilding the bilateral relations, he told the Post.
Ekantipur
22/03/2017 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

India Government raises grant for Nepal by 17 percent

India Government raises grant for Nepal by 17 percent The Indian government has pledged to extend 17 percent more in financial aid to Nepal in the next fiscal year, indicating greater enthusiasm of the southern neighbour to support the landlocked country’s development endeavours. The Indian government has allocated a grant of IRs3.75 billion (Rs6 billion) for Nepal in 2017-18, as against IRs3.20 in 2016-17. The allocation was made through the Union Budget 2017-18 launched by Indian Finance Minister Arjun Jaitely on Wednesday.  In addition to the amount, India has also pledged to extend a grant of IRs113.30 million to Nepal Police Academy in 2017-18, the Indian budget document says. The grant pledged for Nepal in 2017-18 is second highest among South Asian countries, with Bhutan leading the pack. The Indian government has expressed commitment to extend IRs37.14 billion in grant to Bhutan in 2017-18. The amount, however, is 4 percent lower than in 2016-17. In total, Ind...
Post a Comment
Read more

Landless quake victims: Why are we deprived of state aid?

Gothelal BK of Nalang village of Dhading district feels helpless as he watches his villagers building houses at war footing. Seeing them, this homeless man does not know how to make one for his family. The government did not provide him the earthquake assistance grant distributed to quake victims because he did not have land registered in his name. “All the villagers will soon move into their new houses. But my family is doomed to live in tents. The government did not provide us the grant that it distributed to villagers. Neither did it provide us land,” BK shared with a feeling of being helpless against what he thinks as ‘state’s injustice’ to people like him.  BK’s family has been living in a hut covered with plastic sheets after the earthquake rendered them homeless in April 2015. Just like other quake victims, he also waited for nearly two years to start building new home. But his hopes were dashed. Every day when he sees his villagers’ houses coming into shape, he feels...
Post a Comment
Read more

Women, Dalit, marginalized representation to increase

Parliament is set to endorse the Local Level Election Bill that sets out criteria to significantly increase the representation of women, Dalits and marginalized groups in local bodies from the upcoming local elections. The new bill, that is likely to be endorsed on Thursday as none of the major political parties have opposed it, will replace the existing Local Body Election Act 2048 BS. The new bill makes it mandatory to field the candidacy of at least one woman either for the post of chief or deputy chief at village councils, municipalities and district coordination committees. “Political parties must maintain at least 50 percent women’s representation for the posts of either chief or deputy chief while fielding candidates for village councils, municipalities and district coordination committees,” reads Clause 17 (4) of the bill endorsed by parliament’s State Affairs Committee. Women and Dalits respectively constitute over 51 percent and about 13 percent of the total populatio...
Post a Comment
Read more