• Likely to fly to India on Tuesday or Wednesday
• Mahara set to visit China on Monday

Kathmandu, August 13

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bimalendra Nidhi today said the ties between Nepali Congress and CPN-Maoist Centre was natural and a long awaited alliance for accomplishing the peace process and ensuring acceptability of the constitution to the maximum extent.

At a function organised by Nepal Press Union to felicitate Nidhi and Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Ramesh Lekhak, Nidhi said Congress, CPN-MC and Madhes-based parties are major stakeholders of the peace process and their alliance was natural and expected.

As widening the conflict between the Congress and Maoists would derail the peace process and push the country towards more conflict, the tie between the two key stakeholders had brought the peace process on to the right track, Nidhi said.

“Once we address the concerns of Madhes-based parties we will bring them on board the government in order to increase acceptability of the constitution. So the three-point agreement reached with Madhes-based parties is a supplement to the seven-point agreement between the NC and CPN-MC while forging the alliance,” Nidhi said.

Nidhi rejected the allegation that the recent change of guard was for the sake of changing the government.

“Successful accomplishment of the peace process under the principle of reconciliation is of interest more to the Congress and Maoists than to other political forces as the two parties represent two sides of the peace process,” Nidhi said.

Stating that the peace process cannot succeed with the sense of revenge, Nidhi said, “If we try to resolve peace process issues with a sense of revenge, it will prolong the conflict from generation to generation. So, we should be free of the mindset that reconciliation will encourage impunity.”

Nidhi said holding all three levels of elections by January 21, 2018 was the major objective of this government.

Minister Lekhak said that the new alliance was forged with the specific agenda of implementing the constitution within the next 17 months as the previous KP Sharma Oli-led government had deviated from the main agenda.

Democracy, federalism and republicanism are the three pillars of the constitution, he said. If one of them falls or weakens or is broken, the remaining two pillars cannot hold the statute together as they too weaken, Lekhak said.

“So, this government will work to save the three pillars, make the new constitution acceptable to all and reconstruct earthquake damaged structures,” he said.

Govt to enhance relations with India, China

Kathmandu, August 13

DPM Nidhi said the government will bring all national forces including Madhesis and indigenous communities on board by holding talks with them and strengthening relations with neighbouring countries. This will strengthen internal nationalism, he said.

“We want to strengthen relations with India and China and better the relationship with other countries,” Nidhi said.

The four main objectives of Nidhi’s India visit are: to extend Nepal’s invitation to Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Nepal; reset the cancelled India visit of Nepal’s President Bidhya Devi Bhandari; and arrange Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s India visit, according to Nidhi. Bhandari’s scheduled visit was cancelled in May.

Meanwhile, Indian ambassador Ranjit Rae today met with Nidhi at the latter’s residence this evening and discussed Nidhi’s India visit. Although, the actual date of Nidhi’s visit will be determined within one or two days, he is likely to fly to India on Tuesday or Wednesday, according to Nidhi’s personal secretary Bishwas Bikram. “Since, India will celebrate Independence Day on Monday, he will likely visit India immediately after that,” Bikram said.

Nidhi  is scheduled to meet Indian President Mukherjee, PM Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

Diplomatic sources said that attempts were on to arrange PM Dahal’s India visit within September.

Another DPM Krishna Bahadur Mahara is leaving for China on Monday to arrange Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Nepal visit and enhance bilateral relations, Nidhi said.

A cabinet meeting, on Thursday, had decided to send Nidhi and Mahara to India and China as PM Dahal’s special envoys to improve ties with the two countries.