Need for restraint and resolution of the crisis
As the Nepal crisis deepens, with no signs of thaw between the Government and the agitating ethnic groups, so does India-bashing there escalate. The people in the forefront of this act are primarily those at the helm of affairs and the usual suspects who see India's ‘insidious hand’ even in purely humanitarian actions such as the help New Delhi had extended in the immediate aftermath of the terrible earthquake. This is most unfortunate since it threatens to undo all the good work that has happened following the initiatives the Narendra Modi Government has taken since it came into power in May 2014.
The narrative of a new, more vibrant and trustworthy relationship between the two nations that share deep cultural and political histories, could well receive serious setbacks if the present trend does not end. While both New Delhi and Kathmandu have to demonstrate a level of maturity in dealing with the issue and not allow provocative statements from various quarters to derail the relationship, a beginning has to be made by Nepalese leaders who have been the most active in fomenting anti-India sentiments. By ranting against India, they may be feeding their political imperatives, but they are also doing disservice to ties between the two countries.
Moreover, their aggression isn't contributing one bit to the resolution of the crisis. As of now, the primary grievance of these leaders is that India has imposed an informal blockade on the movement of essential goods into Nepal's territory from this side of the border. While it is true that hundreds of trucks from India packed with essential products including fuel have not been crossing into the Nepalese side, it is not because New Delhi wants to starve Nepal, but because of the violent ethnic unrest in the regions that border India. Truckers will not cross over into Nepal if they are not assured of security. That assurance has been lacking from Kathmandu, simply because the regime there is not in control of the situation in the Terai regions where the agitation is most fierce. There are some borders where the situation is not that bad, and trucks have been crossing from there.
The other accusation being hurled at India is that it has been fomenting the protests which the various ethnic groups of Nepal, have launched against the promulgation of a Constitution which, they claim, has short-changed them. It is not New Delhi's fault that Nepal's Constituent Assembly adopted a Constitution which is unacceptable to the ethnic groups. The ruling Nepali Congress-Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-leninist ought to have taken the ethnic community on board. Yet, the Government there decided to ram the Constitution through the strength of numbers in the Assembly. It may be recalled that Prime Minister Modi had, during one of his visits to Nepal, advised the leadership there to take all stakeholders on board. The well-meaning advice was ignored. Not just that, it was seen as interference in Nepal's internal affairs. India has reason to be concerned by unrest and instability in Nepal because the two countries share an open border and a considerable section of the Nepalese population has Indian origins. Instead of targeting India, Kathmandu's leadership must focus on resolving the crisis that is of its making.