An objective analysis shows that despite the hype, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s foreign policy initiatives are not yielding the desired results, at least in India’s neighborhood.
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India has been expressing its concerns over the continued violence in parts of Nepal bordering it. It has urged Nepal to amend the new constitution by securing ‘widest possible. Kathmandu is now seeking answer to this question from New Delhi.
After a meeting of the constituent parties, the UDMF made seven decisions of their two-day meeting public. The hashtag #backoffIndia was trending worldwide on Twitter and editorials in Nepal’s media have asked India to avoid being seen as “crossing the red line.”
Kathmandu: Nepal’s Prime Minister Sushil Koirala has cancelled his visit to New York, where he was scheduled to address the 70th session of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), amid ongoing protests against the country’s newly adopted Constitution.
Both groups say the new internal borders will leave them under-represented at the ballot box and in the national parliament. A large section of the Nepali population holds India responsible for stoking dissatisfaction amongst the Terai populace.
The plea made for this blatant interference in Nepal’s sovereign matters is that that Constitution was not inclusive enough and there was serious unrest among the Madhesi people. “It should on the contrary be a unifying factor in Nepal’s politics”.
“But no country should try to make Nepal its puppet in return for its support and cooperation”, he said. There are some minor protests on the border. Veteran expert on Nepal, Professor S.D. Muni, writes that “to jump into such a polarization by taking sides is neither a prudent policy nor effective diplomacy”. The BJP shares this anger, though it can not display it openly.
India denied imposing a blockade but said: “As was already said on 21 September 2015, our freight forwarders and transporters had voiced complaints about the difficulties they are facing in movement within Nepal and their security fears, due to the prevailing unrest”. Today, however, the Indian prime minister has become a polarizing figure. ” He resigned a few days later and blamed it on “external pressure” around the article”.
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It is disconcerting that India’s role in Nepal’s Constitution-making is being perceived as negative. Constitutions are not rigid static documents and changes can be made through the democratic process.
