Cool down Delhi, let Nepal be

The death of an Indian national in police firing in Nepal serves to bring down by another notch the already deteriorating relations between the two countries. As if this were not enough, India’s statement at the United Nations that it was “concerned” over “lack of political progress” and incidents of “violence, extra-judicial killings and ethnic discrimination” in Nepal has aggravated already frayed tempers in Kathmandu. Since September, when Nepal’s new Constitution was passed by a huge majority, India’s relationship with its neighbour has gone downhill, with an undeclared economic blockade by Delhi that has thrown life in Nepal out of gear. Though the Indian government has denied this and said that the trucks carrying essential commodities are unable to cross over to Nepal due to protests by the Madhesis, for all practical purposes it is a blockade. 

It is unfortunate that the Indian government has found it difficult to accept Nepal’s new Constitution. The Narendra Modi government has backed the Madhesis who say that the new Constitution has marginalised them in the way the country has been divided into eight federal provinces. The Madhesis aver that the reorganisation along geographical lines, rather than that of ethnicity, has emasculated their community. The Indian government, with its pronounced pro-Hindu tilt, is also reportedly peeved at the Nepali parliament adopting secularism. Under monarchy, Nepal was a Hindu kingdom. The Indian government’s irritation towards the new dispensation in Nepal is therefore showing up in more ways than one. India’s raking up of Nepal’s human rights record at the United Nations, for instance, is unprecedented. Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli has understandably criticised India’s action and has attributed it to New Delhi’s new-found animosity towards Kathmandu. 

It is a matter of concern that the Indian government, by its rigid stance over the new Nepal Constitution and consequent reaction, is frittering away a long and deep relationship between the two nations. Nepal is already turning towards China for succour and the government in Beijing has started obliging Kathmandu with essential supplies. Though it does not cover the shortages Nepal is facing, a platform is being set up that may have long-term adverse consequences for India. The raking up of Nepal’s human rights issue at the United Nations was, at best, only a ploy to embarrass Kathmandu. No other purpose would have been served by bringing it up at that forum. It is time that the Modi government does a serious rethink and backs off from its belligerence. It is only fair that Nepal be allowed a free hand to settle its internal issues arising out of the new Constitution.