Modi injects new life in India-Nepal relations
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's August 3 address to lawmakers of Nepal has created a new template for India-Nepal relations which have languished for years and been stuck in a mould that has bred suspicion more than goodwill. Perhaps the most heartening aspect of his speech at the Constituent Assembly, during his two-day visit to the neighbouring country which concluded on August 4, is that he has sought to firmly put to rest apprehensions that New Delhi takes vicarious pleasure in meddling in Nepal's affairs. Mr Modi said there will be no interference in the political direction Kathmandu wishes to take through the collective wisdom of its lawmakers. That direction, he emphasised, has to be determined by Nepal, and India will be happy to offer inputs as and when it was asked for. This should be music to the Nepalese ears, as there has been considerable criticism in Nepal's corridors of power and among the intelligentsia there that New Delhi is working covertly to determine the shape of their Constitution, and doing so by taking advantage of the sharp differences which exist among that country's lawmakers on the Constitution's form and content. The Indian Prime Minister's assurance comes as a contrast to certain developments in the recent past when New Delhi, by the account of most bipartisan observers, not just needlessly intervened but also sought to bully its neighbour. This led to the creation of bad blood and perhaps even prompted Kathmandu to move closer to China in the pursuit of its economic progress and political heft. Of course, the latter development was also facilitated by the lackadaisical political will on India's part over the past two decades; the last bilateral trip that an Indian Prime Minister made to Nepal was 17 years ago. The Modi Government's ‘no interference; only solicited cooperation' attitude is also reflected in his outreach to Kathmandu on the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship. Mr Modi told his Nepalese counterpart Sushil Koirala that his Government was more than amenable to a revision of the treaty, and that he wished for a new treaty to be in place during his first term in office. The ball is now in Nepal's court; it has to get back to India with a draft, after which the two sides can proceed to deal with the nuts and bolts. It should not take as long as five years for the new pact to be inked.
While Mr Modi used his characteristic play of words to send across his message — he said, for instance, that India-Nepal relations were as old as the Himalayas and the Ganga; and drew a link between Somnath in Gujarat to Pashupatinath in Kathmandu — his address was more than rhetoric. He announced a one-billion-dollar line of credit on concessional terms and offered India's enhanced participation in the construction of highways, IT infrastructure and new power transmission lines. These are concrete measures.
It is clear from the rousing welcome Mr Modi received during his visit that Nepal wants to recalibrate the relationship without diluting the trust and friendship that has survived between the two nations for decades despite many hiccups and even threats of a breakdown. Setting aside protocol, Prime Minister Koirala welcomed his Indian counterpart at the airport; and, Mr Modi received a 19-gun salute and a Guard of Honour. From all accounts, the Indian Prime Minister got an overwhelmingly favourable response from most sections of society there. All this adds to the fact that the people of Nepal, and not just their lawmakers, believe Mr Modi has the ability to inject the historical ties with a new vigour. That has in many ways already happened. It is for the authorities now on both the sides to take the momentum forward.