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Nepal for balanced ties with India, China

KATHMANDU: At a time when Indian leaders claim that China’s interest in Nepal is growing, senior Maoist leader and Finance Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has assured New Delhi that there is nothing to worry about.

“There is no need for India to worry about our relation with China,” Dr. Bhattarai told The Hindu. “If there are certain confusions, we have to sit down and solve it.” He acknowledged Indian cooperation in Nepal’s peace process and said the Maoist-led government wanted to have a “balanced relation” with both countries.

Nepal had to interact more with India “socially, economically, and practically”. He also said India had certain misconceptions about Nepal. “We want to act as a bridge between India and China. People have this misconception that Nepal wants to play between India and China. We do not want to promote any sort of antagonism between India and China. Whatever historical suspicion and animosity is there, we hope we could do something to minimise that.”

Asked if land encroachment could affect Nepal-India relations, Dr. Bhattarai said: “It shouldn’t affect but the open border issue should be settled. Both sides should cooperate to resolve it. The 1950 treaty has also become very old. Both sides should sit down and decide on these issues.”

Some of the Constituent Assembly members have been sent to inspect land encroachment in Kalapani and Susta; they will submit a report to the International Relations and Human Rights Committee. When Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee visited Nepal in November last, he said: “The differences and divergence regarding Kalapani and Susta ought to be resolved.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Bhattarai admits the cases of encroachment and says it should be solved “amicably”. He said the discussions on the issue dragged on for long. “It should be expedited soon. We are eager to develop our good relation with India.”

On creating an investment-friendly environment to encourage more Indian companies to come to Nepal, Dr. Bhattarai said the government would soon was bring out an industrial policy and a border investment policy to help investors. “If foreign companies come and invest in Nepal, they will have access to big economies of China and India.” He hoped the environment would be conducive in the next few years.

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