On/Off the Record
By P.R. Pradhan
Prime Minister Pushpakamal Dahal left for a four-day visit to India on 31 May. From day one since Dahal became the PM, he was eager to put his first leg on India before his visits to foreign countries. PM Dahal had missed two foreign visit opportunities – attending the Boao Forum for Asia Conference in China and the Less Developed Countries’ Conference in Qatar due to his commitment to putting the first leg on India. Immediately after his appointment to the post of the PM, Dahal had given an interview to an Indian television that too was in the Hindi language. In that interview, he recalled his cordial relations with India and the Indian support for the “people’s movement”. Also, he had promised for putting his first leg on India in the course of visiting foreign countries.
Since the introduction of the multiparty system in 1990 following the people’s movement sponsored by India, a tradition has been established in Nepal for visiting India immediately after becoming the prime minister in Nepal as if it became mandatory for presenting the letter of credence to the Indian bosses. However, PM Dahal, who was preparing to visit India immediately after he was appointed the PM in Nepal on 25 December 2022, had to wait for about five months to meet his bosses in India.
Dahal was expecting his visit in the first month of the year 2023. Again, he had expected his India visit in Baisakh, the first month of the Nepali calendar. He used all his contacts for receiving an invitation for the visit. Finally, PM Dahal’s wish to visit India has been fulfilled. Nevertheless, will Dahal’s India visit be fruitful for the nation, doubts have been created by Nepali scholars and experts.
Surya Nath Upadhaya, former government secretary and also the former chief of the Commission for Investigation on Abuse of Authority, has created doubt that PM Dahal might have thought about handing over yet another big river of Nepal to India. PM Dahal’s visit to India is aimed at pleasing his Indian bosses and winning the confidence of the Indians. If the visit is intended with such an aim, he would be ready for serving the Indian interests for personal benefits.
PM Dahal didn’t leave any ground for pleasing India. His cabinet has put pressure on President Ramchandra Paudel for sealing the impending citizenship amendment bill before the former’s India visit. Paudel, who is an India confident leader, is ready to serve Delhi’s interests sooner or later.
Understandably, the Indian side has given less priority to the visit. Just before his visit, a delegation of the civil aviation authority had reached India to discuss opening new air routes for Nepal. Nepal is continuously demanding more entry and exit routes to and from Nepal via Bhairahawa, Nepalgunj and Dhangadhi in the West and Janakpur and Biratnagar in the East. Due to the Indian denial, the two newly constructed international airports – Bhairahawa and Pokhara — are virtually non-operational. Moreover, India has objected to the installation of the Instrument Landing System (ILS), which helps the landing of aircraft during low visibility on the ground.
The Nepali civil aviation delegation was in Delhi prior to the PM’s visit for the Indian approval and signing of the agreement regarding the air routes during the PM’s India visit. However, the Indian side didn’t give a decision but said, “We will see” and “’we are in the process”!
Mahendra P Lama, an Indian scholar of Nepali origin born in Darjeeling, India, believes that India’s denial of shortest air routes for the two newly constructed international airports in Bhairahawa and Pokhara is that both the airports were constructed by the Chinese construction companies, and the Pokhara airport was constructed under the Chinese grant and soft loan.
The Indian side has objected installation of the equipment saying that it has covered the Indian sky as well. Singapore is a tiny country having a huge global air service network. All flights to and from Singapore have to approach the Malesyan sky, yet, the air service of Singapore has not been affected. This is an example of good neighbourly behaviour, relations and cooperation.
Understandably, India doesn’t want Nepal’s direct contact with other countries around the globe by allowing the smooth operation of many international airports and much more air services.
Former finance secretary Rameshwor Khanal twits, “High-level visit to India can be considered successful only if India accepts Nepal’s legitimate rights to air routes. As a neighbour, India shouldn’t leverage this to fulfil sundry political interests”.
The delayed invitation by India for PM Dahal itself is a message that he is not an important guest for India. Although PM Dahal is repeatedly clarifying that he is India’s man, India is not ready to trust him.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to host a luncheon reception in honour of his Nepali counterpart. Diplomatically, this is a low-profile treatment. If Modi had wished to give a high honour to our PM, a banquet reception should have been offered, said a senior journalist who also served as a Nepali diplomat in the Nepal Mission to the UN.
“This is a gesture that India is not satisfied with the performance of PM Dahal,” he remarked.
On the eve of his departure to Delhi, Prime Minister Dahal is making big talks that he would raise all the impending issues including the border dispute to the EPG report but we are unable to believe him. Moreover, he is sure to face dozens of questions related to the citizenship amendment bill, skyrocketing of fake Indian currency, border crime, Nepal becoming a safe haven for the anti-Indian terrorist networks, increasing presence of China and the Western countries, among others.
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