Kathmandu, September 7

Former Prime Minister and Chairperson of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Pushpa Kamal Dahal said in New Delhi that a peaceful, stable, prosperous and democratic Nepal was and will be in the interest of Nepal’s neighbours, region and beyond.

Delivering a lecture at an interaction organised by Indian Council of World Affairs in New Delhi today, Dahal said India’s multidimensional progress had not only inspired Nepal but also provided a solid lesson that things were doable.

“Today, India is cruising on its development journey with the slogan of ‘Sabkaa saath sabkaa bikaas’ while Nepal’s development vision is captured in ‘Samriddha Nepal sukhi Nepali’”, Dahal said.

According to a press release issued by the Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi, Dahal said both slogans were the transformative visions for inclusive and sustained development process that sought not to leave anyone behind.

Dahal said as the current chair of SAARC, Nepal’s desire was to revive it and see a conducive environment for early convening of the stalled summit. “We believe that SAARC and BIMSTEC do not substitute, but complement each other,” he added.

With India, he said, our development partnership is substantial and we are committed to deepening this partnership further. He said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s fourth visit to Nepal recently would be remembered as a historic development in the annals of Nepal-India relations. He said cross border infrastructure had justifiably received top priority in bilateral development engagement.

Given Nepal’s potential and India’s massive need, management of water and hydropower is a key area of our cooperation, Dahal added.

“A couple of big projects are already under implementation, the success of which will set fascinating precedence for more such projects,” he added.

Dahal said both sides had appreciated the need to update and upgrade bilateral relations in tune with the realities of the 21st century and to this end both sided had  jointly assigned the Eminent Persons’ Group to provide  useful recommendations. “The EPG will hopefully submit its report soon. Our relations must scale new heights of mutual satisfaction,” he said.

Dahal also spoke on Nepal’s peace process, saying  a few years ago sense of uncertainty surrounded as political transition prolonged, but today, after the promulgating of the constitution, there was  a sense of robust optimism.

Dahal said it rarely happened elsewhere in the world that a traditional force and an armed revolutionary force came to negotiating table, set common future agenda of socio-political restructuring, accomplished the journey from bullet to ballot and the entire process culminated in the making of the constitution by people’s elected representatives, incorporating the uniquely possessive agendas for an inclusive society.

Dahal said Nepal today had the constitution that embodied hopes and desires of 28 million Nepali people.

The constitution had incorporated most of the rights and freedoms contained in the international human rights instruments and the document had been appreciated around the world as uniquely progressive and forward-looking, he added.

State policies are aimed at uplifting and empowering socially backward women, Dalits, Adibasi Janajatis, Madhesis, Tharus, minorities, persons with disability, backward classes, sexual minorities, youths, peasants, workers, and citizens from backward regions and economically poor background, Dahal added.

He said political gains could not sustain in the absence of economic transformation and achieving economic transformation was going to be an uphill task.

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