Pokhara, January 9

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare CP Mainali has informed that the government is set to diversify its trade and transit with immediate neighbours.

Speaking at a programme organised by Nepal Handicapped Society Service Association Pokhara today, the minister attributed the present crisis facing the country to dependency on India. “We’re solely dependent on India, hence the crisis. Therefore, we in the present context want to diversify our trade and transit with China as well,” he argued.

On the obstruction of the entry points by the agitating Madhes-based parties, Mainali suggested that the parties find a solution to the current crisis through talks. “The agitating parties may have legitimate agendas but they should not block the entry points to get their demands addressed,” he reasoned.

On the agitating parties’ agenda related to state delineation and carving out electoral constituencies, Mainali spoke against the idea of plotting constituencies solely on the basis of population and separating the Tarai, hills and mountains.”We are not overlooking their demand of carving out constituencies on the basis of population, but that can’t be the sole criteria as we also need to consider the geography and ensure that there is at least a constituency in each existing district,” he said. On a different note, the minister described the present statute as a progressive one and said the government is ready to amend the charter to address the agitators’ demands.

He also conveyed the government’s commitment to provide relief to the quake victims.