Making his second trip to New Delhi to pursue steady supplies of essential items from India, Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister Kamal Thapa met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday.
He raised the issue of hindrance to supplies reaching Nepal and urged India to re-route cargo from alternative points ignoring the main check points in Raxual and Beerganj. During their meeting, Swaraj denied any hindrance to supplies from India and underlined the fact that India has gone out of the way to ensure medical supplies reach the Himalayan nation. She said India is ready to even air-lift essential items if needed. She, however, asked Nepal to look towards an urgent, long-term solution to the ongoing political crisis in the country.
“EAM @SushmaSwaraj meets DPM & FM Kamal Thapa. Reiterates need for urgent pol solution to pol problems facing Nepal,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted on Wednesday. “EAM @SushmaSwaraj assures DPM Kamal Thapa that there is no hindrance to supplies from India. But Nepal needs to normalise situation asap,” he said in another tweet.
India also made it clear that the crisis Nepal is facing is not a situation caused by India but due to political problems in Nepal. Swaraj asserted that India has always stood for a peaceful and prosperous Nepal which also is in India’s interest. India has been consistently advising Nepalese Government that the problems it is facing is political in nature which cannot be resolved through force.
Thapa briefed Swaraj on the political dialogue with various stakeholders and informed her that the Ministerial level dialogue has been upgraded to the top leadership level in his country and a senior level committee is now trying to resolve the issue. He added that focus of discussions are on four key issues concerning a section of Nepalese population — constituency delimitation, political representation, citizenship and demarcation of provinces. This is Thapa’s second visit to India in less than two months. After meeting with Swaraj, Thapa is off to Bengaluru on a personal visit to meet spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.