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Congress, BJP express concern over Nepal

Neena Vyas & Anita Joshua

Sacking of Army Chief is Nepal’s “internal matter: Congress
India losing its clout over neighbouring
countries, says BJP

NEW DELHI: The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have expressed concern over the developments in Nepal, but the similarity of their viewpoints ended there.

While the BJP was not shy about stating that India could not remain a mute spectator to the goings-on in Nepal, the Congress refused to make any comment on the sacking of the Army Chief and subsequent resignation of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, saying it was the internal matter of Nepal.

Congress general secretary Veerappa Moily was cautious. He said: “We are greatly concerned with the developments in Nepal. We want the democratic process to succeed and we are interested in stability of democracy in Nepal.”

The sacking of the Army Chief, he said, in response to a question, was Nepal’s “internal matter.” However, he did note that since it was a coalition government in Nepal, “if all coalition partners are not taken,” it was not unexpected that the government would run into some trouble. “But, we do not want to pass any judgment.”

The most important thing, according to Mr. Moily, was that the democratic process in Nepal must be given a chance to succeed.

Asked about an unconfirmed meeting between the deposed Nepalese monarch Gyanendra and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he said he “did not know” about the meeting. But in any case, even if such a meeting took place, “it had nothing to do with the [recent] political developments in Nepal.”

The former External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, explained the perspective of the BJP. He said India was surely losing its clout over the neighbouring countries. The United Progressive Alliance government had “outsourced its Nepal policy” to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), “especially to comrade Sitaram Yechury.”

The BJP always felt that “the Maoists could not be trusted to sustain democracy or maintain friendship with India.” For them, democracy was a means to capture power, not en end in itself, he said.

The BJP, which earlier decried Nepal giving up the Hindu kingdom tag, on Monday pointed out that India had a direct interest in the happenings there. “We have an open border with Nepal. A large Nepalese population is allowed to live and earn a living here without let or hindrance. Developments in Nepal, therefore, have a direct bearing on our security and social fabric. The BJP believes that while India should not interfere in the internal affairs of any country, including its neighbours, India has a right to feel concerned” as these developments impact India directly.

To a question on the BJP’s support for the deposed Nepal monarchy, Mr. Sinha said his party did not shed copious tears when the monarchy was deposed. “We supported the democratic movement in Nepal.”

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