Opinion - Editorials   

Nepal and India

Whatever the long-term challenges and opportunities presented by Nepal’s Constituent Assembly elections, the first problem Indian policymakers must face is the unwillingness of key Nepali stakeholders to accept the reality of the Maoist victory. Sections of the Nepali Congress leadership, including Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, are seeking to hold on to power. Such manoeuvres are the antithesis of the consensual spirit needed to write the country’s new Constitution. The NC leadership is clearly being egged on by the United States, which is committed to preventing the Maoists from coming to power. The top brass of the Nepal Army and the soon-to-be-defunct Royal Palace share this undemocratic aim. India, which has invested political capital in the democratisation process in Nepal, must realise that any subversion of the people’s mandate will have damaging consequences for both Kathmandu and New Delhi. The real message from Nepal’s voters was that all the major parties must work together to ensure socio-political stability and create favourable conditions for people-oriented development. There can be no denying the Maoists’ democratic right, as the largest party, to lead a coalition government that includes the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist). India needs to align its policy to encourage and facilitate such an outcome.

New Delhi must also prepare itself for a formal request from the first government in republican Nepal that the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship be replaced by a more contemporary and even-handed agreement. The truth is that the treaty — some of the features of which were a legacy of British colonialism — was concluded between two unequal partners in a world that no longer exists. Among the provisions that offend national sensibilities are those giving New Delhi a say in Kathmandu’s purchase of military equipment from a third country and granting India ‘first preference’ for industrial and natural resource projects in Nepal. Such provisions are clearly inconsistent with the small Himalayan nation’s sovereignty and have, in any case, proved unimplementable. With respect to the advantages Nepal enjoys under the 1950 treaty, New Delhi will be wise to follow the ‘Gujral doctrine’ — which states as its first tenet that “with its neighbours like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, India does not ask for reciprocity, but gives and accommodates what it can in good faith and trust.” In a recent interview to The Hindu, Maoist chairman Prachanda observed that it was more or less impossible for Nepal to have stability and prosperity without increasing the level of its cooperation with India. New Delhi must seize the moment.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Nepal and India
Ominous warning
The man who turned Russia around
100 days to Beijing Olympics
Is brain training really best way to boost IQ?
First victims of climate change will be children
Are germs good for you?
Corrections and clarifications
Significant
Judicial activism
IHF suspension
On cheerleading

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu