India urges all sides in Nepal to remain closely engaged

A day after the motorcade of Nepal President was attacked by Indian-origin Madhesis, India today said it was "very closely" monitoring the events in the Himalayan nation and urged all sides there to move forward in a spirit of reconciliation to address the issues durably.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup did not reply directly when asked about the attack incident but gave India's position on the tabling of two important amendments concerning the disaffected population of Nepal.
"The two amendments concerns two important outstanding issues between the Nepalese government and the agitators - constituency delimitation and proportional inclusion. They have been introduced in the Nepalese Parliament on December 15.

"We encourage and urge all sides to remain closely engaged and move forward in a spirit of reconciliation so that political issues facing Nepal are addressed durably. We are monitoring developments very closely," the Spokesperson said.
Nepal's first woman President Vidya Devi Bhandari escaped unhurt yesterday as Madhesis attacked her motorcade with stones and hurled a petrol bomb at the famous Janaki temple she had visited, Nepalese authorities had said.
India's comments also came after Nepal Ambassador Deep Kumar Upadhyay said his country was reeling under a major humanitarian crisis due to the four-month-long blockade along the border with India, the economic cost of which is much more than that of the impact of the devastating quake.

Upadhyay assured that grievances of the agitating Madhesis are being addressed on a fast-track mode.
"Enough is enough... It is very easy to set fire but difficult to douse it. We will do everything possible to fulfil aspirations of all sections of the population," the envoy said during a media interaction while expressing his "deep pain" for people of Nepal.