Cocking a snook at New Delhi for alleged meddling in Nepal’s internal affairs, the Nepali Government has turned down an Indian offer to build the Himalayan country’s second international airport outside capital Kathmandu and cancelled its first woman President Bidhya Devi Bhandari’s visit to India.
Besides, the Nepal Government on Friday night recalled its ambassador to India Deep Kumar Upadhyay on charge of ‘non-cooperation’ after he expressed reservations over being kept out of the loop regarding the sudden cancellation of the President’s visit
to India. Uphadhya reportedly made his displeasure known to Oli.
It is learnt that the Cabinet of Nepalese Government, led by Prime Minister KP Oli, did not approve her trip to India from May 9, during which she was also scheduled to take Shahi Snan at Simhastha Kumbh in Ujjain on May 14.
According to sources, Upadhyay, who belongs to the Opposition Nepalese Congress (NC), tried to convince Oli that President Bhandari’s visit to New Delhi was crucial for the India-Nepal relations and cancelling it at the last moment can jeopardise bilateral relations which are already fragile. He is reported to have asked the PM to reconsider the decision.
Uphadhya reportedly told Oli, “It does not look good at a time when Nepal-India ties are back on track, and as an ambassador I was not even informed and consulted before the cancellation of the visit.” To this, Oli told Uphadhya that if he had such kind of reservation about the cancellation of the visit, he can quit.
“Before joining this office of ambassador, I tried to distance my political life from that of a diplomat and came here as a neutral person to work in the interest of my country. But it seems I could not given enough confidence to the people in Kathmandu,” Upadhyay told The Pioneer.
Meanwhile, the Nepal Government has decided to mobilise resources on its own for its second international airport slated to come up in the south-central Nijgadh town.
A meeting of the Cabinet, presided over by Oli, on Thursday decided to initiate the process of land acquisition for the project which is estimated to cost $1.20 billion in the
first phase.
Thursday’s decisions by the Oli Government come on the heels of the U-turn by its Maoist ally from their threatened withdrawal of support and forming a national unity Government.
The Nijgadh international airport will be designed to handle 15 million passengers annually and even accommodate the super-jumbo Airbus A380 after the first phase of construction. According to a feasibility study, prepared in April 2011, the airport would cover 3,000 hectares: 2,000 hectares for the airport itself and the remaining 1,000 hectares for an airport city.
Nijgadh is about 130 km south of Kathmandu from where the travelling time by road is approximately 3 hours and 22 minutes.
India has shown interest in the construction of the multi-billion-dollar project due to its strategic importance and proximity to the Nepal-India border.
last June, during the International Conference on Nepal’s Reconstruction, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj first disclosed the Indian interest in constructing the second international airport in Nijgadh, including a fast-track road linking Kathmandu with Nijgadh.
Nepal is rattled by its own internal political contradictions at present particularly when Oli’s own position is in danger after UCPN-Maoist led by Prachanda announced to end coalition with the ruling CPN-UMl. Prachanda and NC have been upset with Oli for his inefficient functioning besides failing to implement the new Constitution and address problems related to Madhesis. Corruption, price rise and delay in earthquake reconstruction work were among other reasons.
With a sword of Damocles hanging over his head, Oli seems to have taken his frustration on the envoy who actually worked tirelessly to bring back India-Nepal relations on track after it suffered a jolt ever since Oli came to power. It seems that Upadhyay has become a causality of Nepal’s internal politics and him being a senior member of NC, Oli tried to hit out at his Opposition.