BackIndia looks to break the ice during Nepal PM visit
Nepal finance minister Poudel holds talks with foreign minister Sushma Swaraj ahead of Prime Minister Oli's arrival on 19 February
Premiumushma Swaraj with Nepal’s finance minister Bishnu Poudel in New Delhi. Photo: PTI
New Delhi: After months of tense relations, India-Nepal ties seem set for a thaw with Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli expected in India on 19 February on his first visit abroad as the country’s premier.
Nepal’s finance minister Bishnu Poudel on Sunday discussed the visit foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, as well as reconstruction assistance extended by India after the April earthquake that had devastated large parts of Nepal, including the capital, Kathmandu. India had extended $1 billion in assistance at a donors’ conference in Kathmandu in June.
“FM Poudel discusses reconstruction assistance. Briefs EAM (Swaraj) on political situation, remaining constitutional issues & PM Oli’s visit to India," said a tweet by Indian foreign ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup.
Earlier, Oli, who took over from then prime minister Sushil Koirala in October, had said that he would visit India only when the atmosphere is right and when a border blockade that Nepal accuses India of imposing ends, according to news reports from Nepal.
There was also speculation that Oli might choose to visit India’s strategic and economic rival China first, given the tense state of relations with India.
India-Nepal ties, which had seen a swift warming with Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting the country twice in 2014, cooled considerably after Nepal adopted its new constitution in September. The new constitution was seen by sections of the Nepalese population—the Tharus, Madhesis and Janjatis—as discriminatory and leading to their political marginalization. India was of the view that Nepal should introduce amendments to those sections seen as discriminatory. This was seen by sections in Nepal as supportive of the demands of the Tharus, Janjatis and the Madhesis—the latter seen as having cultural and familial links with people in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
That the Madhesis and others blocked a key supply route between the two countries at Raxaul in Bihar and Birganj on the Nepalese side of the border, used to transport most of the fuel and other essential supplies, did not help, with the Nepalese accusing India of putting in place a blockade. India said that thousands of its trucks were stranded on its side of the border, unable to cross as protestors were squatting on the road, preventing the movement of trucks. At least 55 Nepalese and one Indian national were killed as Nepalese authorities cracked down on the protestors.
India also applied political pressure in a bid to persuade Nepal to amend its constitution, fearing that the demonstration and unrest could spill over into India, which shares an open border with Nepal. This is in almost complete contrast with the border with Pakistan, which is one of the most militarized zones in the world.
But last month, Nepal’s parliament passed two amendments which addressed two key demands of the Madhesis: proportionate representation and seat allocation in parliament on the basis of population. India welcomed the development as “positive," though the Madhesis rejected it as “incomplete".
Nepal is facing an acute shortage of cooking gas, petroleum products, medicines and other essential goods due to the five-month-long blockade of key border trade points with India as a result of the protests by the Madhesis.
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