Opinion - Editorials   

Landmark event

The success of the first official visit to India of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has set the stage for a new chapter in the relationship between New Delhi and Kathmandu. While the joint press statement issued on Wednesday suggests that substantive decisions have been taken, the real significance of the visit lies in the fact that it has allowed the Indian establishment to see first-hand the statesmanlike approach of the Maoist leader towards is sues that animate the bilateral relationship. Prachanda was at ease with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and established a good rapport with Indian political leaders cutting across party affiliations. Of special significance — given the saffron brigade’s lament over the end of the Hindu monarchy in Nepal — was the effort he made to reach out to the top brass of the Bharatiya Janata Party. In doing so, he sent a clear message that the new Nepal he leads has broken with the practice of establishment parties in his country: it will not play favourites and is ready and willing to work with India regardless of which party is in power. Prime Minister Prachanda’s interaction with Indian businessmen also sent the same message of openness and realism. At the same time, no attempt was made to hide his party’s radical agenda. The Maoists are committed to social and economic justice in Nepal, Prachanda told a gathering of Nepalis resident in India, and will pursue this goal even as they seek to provide greater room for business and industry, including Indian capital.

In terms of the bilateral agenda set, by far the most important task is the work needed to replace the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship with something in keeping with current ground realities. Given the big political changes that have occurred in Nepal and India over the past six decades, a new treaty is needed to better reflect the challenges and the opportunities. Both sides need to ensure that the work of developing a new treaty is handled in friendly and cooperative spirit. While the joint statement, presumably out of deference to official Indian sentiment, speaks only of reviewing and updating the existing treaty, it is essential that New Delhi conducts the exercise with broadmindedness and empathy towards new Nepal’s aspirations. On the economic front, Prachanda underlined the need for the two countries to work on “huge projects” together. How feasible such projects will be — in political and ecological terms — is a question yet to be settled. Unless political equations firm up in Nepal, it is inadvisable for either side to rush the pace of change. In the interim, the two neighbours should focus on incremental changes, building confidence and trust for a more sweeping agenda that can be taken up once the new Nepal Constitution is settled.

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

Stories in this Section

Landmark event
Chance for Zimbabwe
UPA should not be myopic to world events
The real choice before Pakistan
Corrections and clarifications
Anti-terror laws
Say no to nuclear deal
Evolution vs creation
Why rickety vehicles?
Persistent “isms”
Market crisis
Embankments — or should we say entombments?

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