Prachanda’s angle: The Nepalese PM plans to take up a host of issues during India visit

File image of Nepal's Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka 'Prachanda'

The much-awaited visit of Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, aka ‘Prachanda’, will finally take place next week. He will be in India for four days, beginning May 31.

Prachanda received an invitation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit India soon after he assumed office in December, after Nepal’s parliamentary and provincial elections. But a number of important domestic political developments and the election for a new President in March delayed his visit to New Delhi.

Prachanda has also been invited to visit China by the leadership in Beijing. By choosing India as his first visit outside the country, the Nepalese Prime Minister is clearly trying to reach out to India for help in his country’s development and economic revival.

India’s positive role in helping neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka and Maldives during their economic crises, as well as aiding Bangladesh in its development goals, has impressed the South Asian nations. Nepal, which has already been engaged in several developmental projects with India, would like to take the economic and political relationship with Delhi to a higher level.

During his four-day visit, Prachanda will meet the entire range of the Indian leadership, including, President Droupadi Murmu, vice President Jagdeep Dhankar and other senior leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

But the focus of both countries and observers in the region will be on the meeting he has with his Indian counterpart and host, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The meeting will give both sides the opportunity to discuss the entire gamut of bilateral relations as well as regional and global developments that are of interest or concern to them.

Prachanda will be accompanied by a delegation of high-ranking Nepal government officials, including ministers and secretaries. Apart from New Delhi, Prachanda also has plans to visit Ujjain and Indore, with the intent to broaden connections and collaboration beyond the Indian capital.

The Nepal Prime Minister’s visit is being seen in Delhi as part of Modi’s “Neighbourhood First Policy.” Since becoming prime minister in 2014, Modi has travelled to Nepal and other South Asian neighbours, including Pakistan, on a number of occasions.

India is the chief security provider of the region and through its regular engagements with neighbouring countries, it has tried to convey this clearly to them. This was evident especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, when India not only helped the neighbouring countries with vaccines and other essential medicines but also with financial help and supply of fuel and other commodities.

Though India and Nepal have strong historic and traditional bonds, relations between the two neighbours have hit some rough patches in the recent past. Part of the problem has been in the frequent changes of leadership in Nepal and their attempts to redefine Indo-Nepal relations.

An additional challenge to the relationship has been the growing footprint of China in Nepal. Chinese involvement in the country has grown through heavy investment and the promise of developing Nepalese infrastructure. But unlike in the past, China has also started backing its favourite political party (Communist) and the prime minister in Nepal.

While Beijing always had an interest in Nepal as it plays a crucial role in the stability of its Tibet region, the growth of its presence has come at a time when the Sino-Indian frontier has become active. The armies of the two countries have been engaged in a military face-off since May 2020 at their disputed border and in the wake of China’s unilateral attempt to alter the status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) — the de facto boundary between the two countries.

Though both Indian and Chinese leaders have ensured that the situation at the LAC does not turn into a conflict, Delhi has maintained that normal relations between the two countries will be possible only after peace and the status quo at the border are restored. Prachanda is aware of the current relations between Nepal’s two great neighbours and has decided to tread carefully to maintain good relations with India and China as he needs support from both.

The Nepal Prime Minister said recently that he was doing his “homework” properly for the visit. Over the past few days, he has been holding consultations with former prime ministers of Nepal and other senior leaders to prepare a list of issues that will be given priority during his engagement with the Indian leadership. The suggestions have covered a wide range of issues, including those that are considered by most observers to be highly contentious.

Former Prime Minister and leader of the pro-China Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) KP Sharma Oli wants Prachanda to raise the issue of Kalapani, Lipulek and Limpiyadhura — three territories of Nepal that he claims had been taken forcibly by India. As prime minister, Oli had also issued a new map of Nepal showing all the three areas as Nepalese territory. His decision predictably had strained relations with India.

Others have suggested that Prachanda raise the issue of the Eminent Persons Group report that was completed in 2018 but has not yet been submitted to the Indian government. Among its recommendations is a review of the Nepal-India Friendship Treaty of 1950 — seen as another contentious issue by the Indian leadership as it has often been used as an anti-India propaganda plank by sections of Nepal’s politicians.

The EPG is an eight-member group comprising eminent persons from India (led by former Uttarakhand chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari) and Nepal (led by former foreign minister Bhekh Bahadur Thapa). It was formed by the governments of the two countries to review bilateral relations, agreements and treaties.

However, moderate sections in Nepal want the Prime Minister to keep aside contentious issues and start his engagement with his Indian counterpart on a positive note and an “open mind”, in order to create a more cooperative partnership with Delhi.

How successful his forthcoming visit to India is will depend on what the two sides put on the table and agree on to elevate their partnership.