The new Maoist leader of Nepal, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known by the nom de guerre “Prachanda” that he adopted through his long years in the underground, has underlined the importance of India for his country by choosing it for his first foreign visit after assuming power. This has been worthwhile for both him and the host as truly a new era has been initiated in India-Nepal relations as the former mountain ‘kingdom’ begins its journey as a federal democratic republic. Both sides have agreed to take a fresh look at the nearly six-decade-old treaty of peace and friendship, perhaps the most important piece of paper for Nepal (it is yet to write its Constitution) which different political leaders of Nepal have sought to revise in the past but failed. By excluding nothing from the ambit of the new look, India has sought to convey its sincerity in beginning anew.
There are inevitable complexities, with what is in the mind being as important as what is on the ground, in the relations between a large and a small neighbour. Matters are not made any easier by Nepal also having another very large neighbour, China, with which India still has an outstanding border dispute. To put the past behind them, the joint statement at the end of the official visit affirms that both sides want a new dynamism in relations which will reactivate bilateral mechanisms. In keeping with this, no important issue, however thorny, has been brushed under the carpet. Indian concerns over cross-border security issues, a euphemism for Pakistani terrorist camps in Nepal, have been addressed. Similarly, a firm deadline of one month has been set for the commerce secretaries of the two countries to meet to comprehensively review the trade and transit arrangements which are critical for the economic growth and development of landlocked Nepal. In addressing Nepal’s immediate needs, India has agreed to lift for Nepal the ban it has imposed on exports of food as an inflation fighting measure, extend a Rs 150 crore credit for Nepal to import petroleum products and agreed on arrangements for Nepalese road traffic to go through Bihar till Nepal’s roads damaged by floods are put back on their feet again.
But by far the most important decisions, which can have the most far-reaching consequences, are to look at ways in which water, hydroelectric power, irrigation and flood control issues can be addressed to mutual advantage. In the weeks before Prachanda’s visit, Bihar was ravaged by unprecedented floods caused by a breach in an embankment in Nepal along the Kosi river, which is supposed to be looked after by India and which Bihar’s engineers claim they cannot without the cooperation of the Nepalese authorities. The Kosi poses an almost annual nightmare for Bihar whereas if the waters of that and other rivers which come down to the plains from Nepal are properly harnessed, Nepal can reap huge gains from the sale of hydroelectric power to India. Hence it is heartening that the two sides have agreed to schedule a secretary-level meeting in two weeks to begin work on infrastructure development in Nepal.
Additionally, the Nepalese prime minister has promised an investment board with himself as chairman to devise fast-track solutions which will make it easier to do business in Nepal. If this attempt not to duck important issues, however sensitive, gets translated into fruitful cooperation, then Nepal will prosper and India will feel more secure.
