 "PM impresses Nepalese")
The delegation from Nepal was absolutely delighted when Prime Minister Narendra Modi told his counterpart in the Himalayan nation, Sushil Koirala, that he wanted Nepal to be the first country he visits as prime minister.
Although theoretically the rule is that the Indian PM does not visit the same country twice in a year (he will have to go to Kathmandu again in November for the SAARC summit meeting), this is not a template that can’t be changed.
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Inder Kumar Gujral was last Indian PM to have undertaken an official visit to Nepal in June 1997. Atal Bihari Vajpayee also went to Kathmandu in January 2002 while he was heading the NDA government. But that was to attend the 11th SAARC summit.
On the other hand in the past nearly 17 years since Gujral’s visit, all Nepali PMs except Jhalanath Khanal have made official visits to New Delhi during their tenure. India is almost always the first port of call for any Nepali prime minister, as it was with Sushil Koirala who undertook his first bilateral visit as PM when he came to Delhi.
Interestingly, in the first few foreign policy moves, the PM’s imprimatur is very evident. The idea of inviting SAARC leaders for the swearing in, came from National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval when he wasn’t even NSA.
Letter were then written to the Ambassadors of the SAARC countries who responded cautiously by saying the letters had to be routed through the Ministry of External Affairs. It was only then that Foreign Secretary Sujata Singh came into the loop.
During the meeting the C word – China – was not even mentioned. The three things Modi touched upon were security – he thanked Nepal from the heart for its contribution in nabbing radical Islamic leaders especially Yaseen Bhatkal; hydropower which is at the heart of Modi’s own favourite theory that India has to develop non-fossil fuel sources of energy especially tapping the Brahmaputra for hydropower; and asked Nepal about its (interminable) constitution-making process.
“We are ready to give you whatever help you want” said Modi.
It was his body language that impressed Koirala and his team the most. He appeared to be strong and confident – although he kept looking at the Indian Ambassador in Kathmandu, Ranjit Rae, and the Foreign Secretary for endorsement of what he was saying, the first responses were his own. He seemed to be remarkably well informed, said a member of the Nepalese delegation.
This is part of a brand new style - language of administration, and working hours - of the new Prime Minister.
The same applies to the way the Principal secretary to the Prime Minister was appointed. Modi's first choice for Principal Secretary to the PM was Anil Baijal, former home secretary and urban development secretary, who was interviewed by Modi for the job for almost 45 minutes.
Modi also interviewed Deepak Chatterjee, who was commerce secretary under then commerce minister Arun Jaitley, the new finance minister. Modi met Misra only for 10 minutes and zeroed in on him – he came with a recommendation from home minister Rajnath Singh; both are from UP.
Almost all ministers are in office by 9 am – in fact, new minister for infrastructure, Nitin Gadkari took charge at 8 am. This has put a degree of pressure on the bureaucracy. The only Minister in the UPA government to begin his day at 9 sharp was former Finance Minister P Chidambaram.