Kathmandu, February 22

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who is in India on a six-day state-visit, today said he himself was not fully satisfied with all the provisions of Nepal’s new constitution, but still he accepted the charter for its wider legitimacy.

“No one is happy with all the provisions of the new constitution,” PM Oli said while addressing a talk programme in New Delhi today. “I am also not fully satisfied with it, as some of the core issues have not found place in the constitution the way I wanted.”

He added that more than 92 per cent of the CA members participated in the voting and more than 85 per cent of them representing all segments of Nepali society voted in favour of the statute.

The function organised by Indian Council of World Affairs was chaired by External Affairs Minister of India Sushma Swaraj. A host of diplomats, experts on Nepal-India relations and mediapersons also attended the function.

Before Oli’s speech, Deputy Prime Minister Kamal Thapa defended the new constitution of Nepal, claiming it incorporated views of multiple political groups, some of who were opposed to each other.

PM Oli reiterated that the constitution-making process was inclusive and the historic charter was progressive without any kind of discrimination.

Responding to a query, he made it clear that the document was not discriminatory as far as the issue of citizenship was concerned.

He said more than a thousand Indian women who had married Nepali men recently acquired matrimonial naturalised citizenship certificates after the promulgation of the new constitution in September, prime minister’s Press Adviser Pramod Dahal, who is in New Delhi, told The Himalayan Times over phone.

Earlier, agitating Madhesi parties and Indian side stated that the new constitution had made it difficult to get matrimonial naturalized citizenship certificates.

The PM also thanked Indian PM Narendra Modi for recognising the new constitution as ‘an important achievement of Nepali people”.

Referring to the recent stand-off between the two sides following the adoption of the constitution, the PM said, “Intermittent issues between the two countries should not lead us to actions that are unwarranted and impact people’s daily lives adversely.”

He reiterated the country’s firm commitment to check any hostile activity directed against India from its soil.

Saying open border is a common asset of Nepal and India, he stated that both sides should maintain the sanctity of No Man’s Land so that the true spirit of the open border remains alive in practical terms under all circumstances.

Earlier, PM Oli addressed a business conclave in New Delhi and urged Indian investors to invest in Nepal’s competitive advantageous sectors, such as hydro-power development, road and rail infrastructure and tourism.

Earlier, India’s State Minister for Energy Piyush Goyal met PM Oli and assured him of India’s readiness to expedite work on two joint-venture mega-hydel projects of Nepal Upper Karnali and Arun III by setting a time-bound deadline, according to PM’s foreign relations expert Gopal Khanal.