Experts say India won't act against Nepal

Kathmandu, September 22

Foreign policy experts and former envoys were confident India wouldn’t take any harmful measure against Nepal despite its reservations on the new constitution.

CPN-UML lawmaker Rajan Bhattarai said any harsh measure India takes to pressure Nepal would lead to rise of ultra-nationalist forces in Nepal and that wouldn’t be in the interest of both Nepal and India. “We know India has concerns about the statute though it has been promulgated through due democratic process,” Bhattarai said at Reporter’s Club today. “Just because of this, I don’t believe India would resort to any damaging measure such as imposing economic blockade against its neighbour.” Saying India has some genuine interests in Nepal, he stressed they have to be addressed with due priority.

He also said the ongoing violence in Madhes is Nepal’s internal affair and has to be resolved internally. “Third party involvement in Madhesi matters would have negative consequences.”

Former ambassador to China Rajeshwor Acharya said India should have congratulated Nepal for adopting a constitution with over 90 per cent people’s participation. He also said India should have expressed its concerns diplomatically instead of issuing a public statement.

Regretting New Delhi’s public position on Nepal’s internal affairs, former ambassador to the US Shankar Sharma said such a step would not help boost India’s rising global image.

Former ambassador to India Durgesh Man Singh said the stand-off was mainly because of communication gap between New Delhi and Kathmandu. He suggested that the Nepali leadership address the genuine concerns of Madhesis and Janajatis and make diplomatic efforts to bridge the communication gap with the Indian leadership.

Civil Society leader Sundar Mani Dixit said India had only raised concerns that Nepalis itself had been raising for long and if we resolved them internally, India wouldn’t intervene. He also criticised the poor hospitality offered to the Indian prime minister’s special envoy and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar by Nepali political leaders during his recent visit.