As Kathmandu elects new govt, foreign policy experts emphasise on strong India-Nepal relations

India

pti-PTI

Kathmandu,
Dec
26:
No
matter
which
government
comes
to
power
in
Kathmandu,
the
bilateral
ties
between
Nepal
and
India
need
to
remain
strong
due
to
the
cultural,
economic
and
social
proximity
between
the
two
countries,
political
analysts
said
on
Monday
as
Pushpa
Kamal
Dahal
“Prachanda”
was
sworn-in
as
the
new
prime
minister
of
the
landlocked
nation.

Nilambar
Acharya,
former
Nepalese
ambassador
to
India,
says
the
new
government
needs
to
maintain
cordial
relations
with
India
though
there
may
be
differences
in
the
working
style
of
every
dispensation.
Prachanda,
68,
was
appointed
as
Nepal’s
new
premier
by
President
Bidya
Devi
Bhandari
after
he
surprisingly
walked
away
from
the
five-party
ruling
alliance
led
by
outgoing
Prime
Minister
Sher
Bahadur
Deuba’s
Nepali
Congress
and
staked
a
claim
for
the
premier’s
post
before
the
deadline
set
by
the
president
expired
on
Sunday.

Prachanda
was
sworn
in
for
the
third
time
as
the
Prime
Minister
of
Nepal
on
Monday.
“Of
course,
we
have
some
issues
with
India,
and
the
style
of
handling
such
issues
may
differ
from
the
previous
to
the
present
government,” Acharya
says.
“All
these
issues,
including
the
border
problem,
need
to
be
resolved
through
diplomatic
channels,”
he
says.
The
former
diplomat
adds
that
besides
silent
diplomacy,
“sometimes
we
need
to
pursue
open
diplomacy
in
tackling
various
bilateral
issues”.

Prachanda
and
CPN-UML
chair
and
former
prime
minister
K
P
Oli,
fiercest
critics
of
each
other
until
Saturday,
had
joined
hands
for
a
power-sharing
deal
on
Sunday.
In
Kathmandu,
a
sudden
shift
of
camp
by
Prachanda
to
the
CPN-UML
and
the
consensus
he
was
able
to
secure
so
quickly
have
taken
many
by
surprise.
The
surprise
development
may
not
bode
well
for
India-Nepal
ties
as
Prachanda
and
his
main
backer
Oli
have
had
some
run-ins
with
New
Delhi
previously
over
territorial
issues.
Prachanda
is
largely
seen
as
pro-China.

He
has
in
the
past
said
that
a
new
understanding
with
India
needed
to
be
developed
on
the
basis
of
a
“changed
scenario”
in
Nepal
and
after
addressing
all
outstanding
issues,
like
the
revision
of
the
1950
Friendship
Treaty
and
resolving
Kalapani
and
Susta
border
disputes.
Acharya,
however,
opines
that
the
new
dispensation
may
not
tilt
towards
either
China
or
India
in
its
foreign
policy
overtures.

“I
do
not
think
that
the
new
government
will
either
tilt
towards
China
or
India.
Nepal
needs
to
maintain
cordial
relations
with
both
India
and
China,
and
we
cannot
develop
the
country
by
damaging
its
relations
with
the
southern
neighbour,”
he
said.
The
India-Nepal
Treaty
of
Peace
and
Friendship
of
1950
forms
the
bedrock
of
the
special
relations
between
the
two
countries.
Commenting
on
the
new
government,
senior
journalist
Dhruba
Hari
Adhikari
said
Prachanda’s
image
as
a
radical
leftist
leaves
room
to
suspect
that
his
foreign
policy
measures
may
not
be
helpful
in
maintaining
Nepal’s
balanced
relationship
with
its
immediate
neighbours
—
India
and
China.

Senior
journalist
Mathwar
Singh
Basnet
says
the
government
is
clearly
tilted
towards
its
northern
neighbour.
“The
first
congratulation
to
Prachanda
came
from
the
Chinese
envoy.
Moreover,
leaders
of
both
the
major
alliance
members
—
CPN-Maoist
Centre
and
CPN-UML
—
are
from
a
communist
background
and
they
do
not
believe
in
a
democratic
system,”
he
says.

In
a
sarcastic
remark,
Kathmandu
Metropolitan
City
mayor
Balendra
Shah
says
leaders
representing
three
completely
different
ideologies
—
“Those
who
want
to
reinstate
the
monarchy,
those
who
abolished
the
monarchy,
and
those
who
wanted
to
slain
the
King”
—
have
joined
hands
to
form
the
new
government
in
Nepal.
“All
three
people
(alliance
partners)
who
said
‘the
King
should
return’,
‘We
don’t
need
King’ and
‘King
should
be
slayed’
are
in
the
government
at
present.
However,
common
people
are
the
ones
who
always
suffer,”
Shah
tweeted.
Nepal
is
important
for
India
in
the
context
of
its
overall
strategic
interests
in
the
region,
and
the
leaders
of
the
two
countries
have
often
noted
the
age-old
“Roti
Beti”
relationship.

Land-locked
Nepal
relies
heavily
on
India
for
the
transportation
of
goods
and
services.
Nepal’s
access
to
the
sea
is
through
India,
and
it
imports
a
predominant
proportion
of
its
requirements
from
and
through
India.
Ties
between
the
two
countries
came
under
severe
strain
after
Kathmandu
published
a
new
political
map
in
2020
that
showed
the
three
Indian
territories
–
Limpiyadhura,
Kalapani
and
Lipulekh
–
as
part
of
Nepal.

The
then
Prime
Minister
Oli
attempted
to
use
the
issue
to
fend
off
increasing
domestic
pressure
and
challenge
his
leadership.
The
country
also
shares
a
border
of
over
1,850
km
with
five
Indian
states
–
Sikkim,
West
Bengal,
Bihar,
Uttar
Pradesh
and
Uttarakhand.