Pranab visit to iron out creases in relationship with Nepal

President Pranab Mukherjee’s planned two-day visit to Nepal starting November 3 has been structured carefully to erase the recent bitterness and trust deficit between India and the neighbouring Himalayan nation.

It is aimed at going beyond the ceremonial, but whether or not it will succeed in easing out a grumpy phase in the relationship between the two nations, which have been punctuated by an economic blockade, remains to be seen.

India is playing up the visit. No Indian President has visited Nepal for 18 years, though the two countries have enjoyed a unique relationship. The countries share an open border and people of Nepalese origin and well as citizens are routinely employed by the Indian Army.

During his visit, Mukherjee will go to two cities — Janakpur and Pokhara — besides Nepal capital Kathmandu. 

This is quite unual. Janakpur is considered the intellectual capital of Madhesis, the ethic group inhabiting the plains. Recently, they led led a blockade demanding more federalism. It is also the symbolic home of Sita in Ramayana.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted to visit the Janaki temple in Janakpur in November 2014, after a meeting of South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation heads of state in Kathmandu. He was forced to drop the idea because the United Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) threatened to disrupt the visit. 

The Madhesis are resented by the hill people of Nepal for their relationship with India and Modi was keen to ensure India did not become a factor in the politics of Nepal.

However, that is exactly what happened. When K P Sharma Oli became the prime minister of Nepal, New Delhi asked Kathmandu to delay the promulgation of the new Constitution so that the Madhesi parties’ demands on citizenship and provincial boundaries could be incorporated. 

The disruption of fuel supplies through an “unofficial blockade” for which Nepal blamed India and India blamed the Madhesi protestors, only confirmed the suspicions of the Nepali populace: Madhesis were being used by India to extend its hegemony.

Oli’s India visit in February 2016 introduced some equanimity and that was cemented by Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” became the prime minister. 

In Pokhara, the President is due to address ex-servicemen. This meeting has been reviewed and re-visited several times by Indian as well as Nepalese authorities, amid warnings on the social media that former soldiers owing allegiance to left wing groups could show black flags at the meetings. 

Sources told Business Standard unprecedented security measures had been ordered by the government, including shoot-at-sight orders if any black flags or protests were spotted through the visit. 

The efforts of the Indian establishment to recalibrate relations with Nepal are being supplemented by the India Foundation, which is hosting a big seminar on India-Nepal relations in Kathmandu. Several Bharatiya Janata Party members of Parliament, including Tarun Vijay and Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah, are scheduled to take part in it. 

“Prachanda” will inaugurate the event and President Mukherjee will deliver the key address. Those critical of India, such as Madhesi leader Upendra Yadav have been excluded from the seminar.