It is truly unfortunate that so soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s special initiative to improve Indo-Nepalese relations, new irritants have appeared that threaten the age-old ties yet again.
The Prime Minister visited Nepal on priority in August last after assuming office and returned there in November to attend the SAARC summit. He made sure to engage with the entire spectrum of Nepal’s political leadership. When the earthquake shook Nepal in April this year, the Indian disaster management machinery was set in motion to assist Nepal on Modi’s personal initiative. The Indian relief response was massive and uncharacteristically swift.
In such a scenario, when Nepal promulgated its new constitution—ignoring all the advice from the Indian government—it came as a major disappointment to the Modi government, which had invested so much in a refurbished relationship. It was as though Kathmandu was cocking a snook at India and her concerns that the Indian-origin Madhesis and Tharus needed to be made comfortable in the new scheme of things.
India, in turn, could have handled the situation better by at least welcoming the adoption of a new constitution while expressing serious reservations about some of its provisions. It could then have worked behind the scenes as a mediator to get the demands of the Madhesis and Tharus accepted substantially without making it obvious that it was playing the Big Brother, again which evokes resentment.
Instead, India chose not to welcome the new constitution, to summon its ambassador in Nepal for consultations and to thrust before the Nepalese government demands to satisfy the Madhesis who along with the Tharus account for over 40 per cent of the Nepalese population. By doing so, the Modi government confirmed the fears of the Nepalese that the Madhesis, who migrated from Bihar, still look up to India rather than to the Nepalese government.
The primary reason for the tough Indian stand was that Assembly elections were due shortly in Bihar, and it did not want to risk alienating the Madhesis and Tharus of that state who are dominant in the Terai region.
But the consequence of the Indian government’s hawkish approach in
Nepal was that the Chinese got a chance to get cozy with Nepal. The leverage that India had gained as a result of the quick and substantial response to the quake was neutralised by
China’s wholehearted welcome to the new constitution.
Why do we learn only by hindsight? Now all the focus will be on restoring India-Nepal bonhomie all over again and that would be no mean task.
While India must protect the interests of ethnic Indians in Nepal, it must do so through patient and clever diplomacy. The main bone of contention of the Madhesis in the Terai region is that representation in the Nepal National Assembly must be on the basis of population, and since these people constitute a substantial percentage of the population they must get a fair deal.
The Nepalese leadership had indicated to India at the time of promulgation of the new constitution that it was open to changes in the new statute. Now, they must walk the talk. It is in the interests of peace that the sense of alienation in half the country’s population is ended. The sooner that is done, the better it would be for Indo-Nepal relations.
k.kamlendra@gmail.com
Kanwar is a former journalist