Kathmandu, September 22

Baburam Bhattarai led Naya Shakti-Nepal today issued a press release opposing some contents of the 25-point joint statement issued by Nepal and India during the prime minister’s recent visit to India.

NS-N said there were some contents in the joint statement that were against national interest.

The party opposed the reference made to the work of the Eminent Persons Group in point 7 of the statement.

NS-N said the joint statement only said that the Eminent Persons Group would suggest measures to consolidate and further expand the close and multi-faceted ties between the two countries.

“This act limits the terms of reference forwarded by the Bhattarai-led government in the past and abandons the opportunity to make timely changes in bilateral relations, which is against the interests of the country,” the NS-N added.

The Bhattarai-led party also said that mention of the amendment to Nepal’s constitution in point-10 of the joint statement had internationalised Nepal’s domestic issue.

The party also opposed the reference to Nepal and India holding similar views on major international issues in point 11 of the statement. It said the mention of the word that the two countries would work in close cooperation with each other in the UN and other international fora was a blunder, for it indicated that Nepal had abandoned its independent foreign policy and its commitment to the principles of non-alignment.

NS-N said the interpretation of open border in point 12 of the statement as a reflection of special ties between the countries was an abandonment of past policy that focused on regulating the border.

It also objected to the reference of Nepal-India joint mechanism in the statement saying that the external monitoring of projects run in Nepal is wrong.

The party said that the Prime Minister did not act on any suggestions that it had submitted to him before his visit to India and that instead of solving widening trade deficit, expressed satisfaction with Indian PM Modi .