Indian cold shoulder chills Nepal

Indian cold shoulder chills Nepal

Kamlendra KanwarUpdated: Friday, May 31, 2019, 10:18 PM IST
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The long-standing problem arising out of Nepalese sensitivity over India’s patronising and big brotherly attitude towards them has come to the fore again with the unveiling of a new constitution that was in the making for over eight years. During this period, after the end of monarchy, a constituent assembly was elected but it was stalemated by the absence of a consensus until a constitution was hastily adopted recently.

The path to becoming a secular, federal, democratic and republican Nepal — as the Constitution envisages it to be — has been riddled with obstacles. While the process is over for now and most legislators have accepted the new Constitution, a sizable section of Nepal’s population (over 50 per cent) originating from the Terai region of neighbouring Bihar feels short-changed. The Terai unrest in which over 40 people have died has propelled this country to oppose the manner in which the government of Nepal bulldozed its way through with the Constitution without taking on board the Madhesis and Tharu communities which inhabit the plains of Terai.

The federal restructuring of Nepal into seven provinces has left the Madhesis divided among five provinces, with only one of them having a majority of plains-origin people. That has been a cause of serious heartburn because they fear they would get a raw deal under the new constitution.

There were also other reasons for discontent over the new constitution. These include the delineation of electoral constituencies in the Terai which has not been done on the basis of population. Other complaints relate to citizenship norms that disallow children of Nepali mothers married to foreigners from inheriting Nepali citizenship.

The Modi government’s response to the promulgation of the new constitution without prior consultations with India has been rather strong and that could be a factor in the future relationship between the two countries. This despite the fact that India was assured that changes would be made to the constitution subsequent to discussions, to meet the aspirations of dissatisfied groups.

That shrill approach may have a lot to do with the elections in Bihar. If that be so, a more conciliatory approach is possible after the elections are done with. But the cold reality is that this is not the first time Nepal has disregarded Indian concerns. With China on its other flank, Nepal has tended to cock a snook at India as if to say that if you turn cold and un-cooperative, we have the Chinese to bank upon.

But it is high time the Nepalese realise that India has stood by them in tough times as when a devastating earthquake struck Nepal a few months ago. India too must reciprocate and not treat the Nepalese with lesser respect than is due.

Unlike in the past, the Modi government has been indulgent towards Nepal and a continued cozy relationship with New Delhi would be to the considerable benefit of Nepal which is a landlocked country hugely dependent on India.

As things stand, however, new strains have developed in the relationship which need to be ironed out lest the Chinese take advantage of this to drive a deeper wedge between Nepal and India.

The latest statement issued by India’s Ministry of External Affairs on the tangle was unusually blunt. It said: “We had repeatedly cautioned the political leadership in Nepal to take urgent steps to defuse the tension in the (Terai) region. This, if it had been done in a timely manner, could have averted these serious developments.” The reference was to the clashes between the Madhesis and Nepali forces in the wake of the announcement of a new constitution.

Reports say the recent visit to Nepal of Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar evoked a cold response and that has understandably irked India. Indian ‘advice’ to the Nepalese government to wait for unveiling the constitution until the Madhesis and Tharus were brought on board was ignored.

While this was happening, Nepal’s ambassador to India, Deep Kumar Upadhyay, said in a newspaper interview that he was “completely surprised” by the Indian reaction. He added: “On a day when Nepal was celebrating, India did not join in with us. I wish they had taken us into confidence about their reservations earlier.”

In retrospect, India did err in not welcoming the new constitution. It could have welcomed it while expressing reservations over the neglect of the Madhesis. It could well have pressed for greater inclusiveness and escalated matters only when its advice went unheeded.

According to the government, there are three major problems with the Constitution which prevents India from warmly welcoming the document. To begin with the federal-provincial demarcation is perceived to be unfair to the people of the Terai region; secondly, the constituency delimitation is skewed against the Madhes population as half the population, that is the Pahadi (hill) community gets 100 seats but the other half consisting of the Madhesi and the Janjatis get only 65 seats.

Whatever be the differences in approach, India and Nepal both need to show greater maturity and spirit of accommodation. The interests of neither country would be served by a non-conciliatory approach.

India must realise that it cannot impose its thinking on a sovereign state so brazenly. Nepal, on its part, needs to appreciate that its interests lie in taking India along on major decisions, especially those that impinge on a sizable chunk of its population that is of Indian origin. Ultimately, the two neighbours have to co-exist in harmony in their own interests.

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