Reaching out to an aggrieved Nepal
It is a matter of relief that India has reached out to Nepal promptly to repair ties after China sought to establish overweening influence in Kathmandu in the wake of a Left government being voted to power there as part of China’s policy to encircle India with hostile neighbours. The visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Kathmandu close on the heels of the visit of his Nepalese counterpart, K P Oli, to India has indeed stopped the drift in Indo-Nepalese ties. There is no denying that the communists had stormed to power in Nepal on an anti-India platform, as Nepalese in general were sore over the economic blockade that India was claimed to have organised which crippled their economy. The bonhomie displayed on Modi’s visit — the third in four years — with several attractive giveaways for Nepal — gave indications that all is well now. Oli, who had been sharply critical of India during the electoral campaign was a picture of warmth much to the chagrin of the anti-India lobby.
Billed as a religious and cultural visit, Modi’s visit to Nepal began with a visit to Janakpur where he jointly launched with Prime Minister K P Oli the Ramayan tourism circuit. Fifteen destinations in both countries including Ayodhya, Nandigram, Shringverpur and Chitrakoot will be developed to promote religious tourism. The two leaders inaugurated a bus service between Janakpur, considered in Hindu mythology as Goddess Sita’s ‘maika’ (parent’s place), and her ‘sasural’ (inlaws’ place), Ayodhya. The effort was to rekindle the bond of cultural and religious kinship. But it was not all religious hoopla. There was development thrown in good measure. One showpiece project was the 900 MW Arun III project in Sankhuwasabha district of eastern Nepal on which construction was initiated. This will be the largest hydropower project to be developed in Nepal and is expected to be completed within five years at a cost nearing Rs 6,000 crore. The venture is slated to transform the Nepalese economy and will benefit India too through the supply of the electricity generated by the project.
Modi’s visit will also give impetus to another key connectivity and infrastructure project — the Raxaul (Bihar)-Kathmandu rail link — that was announced during Oli’s visit to India last month. This will connect Nepal to the Indian railway system. The Raxaul-Kathmandu rail line will expand “connectivity” between the two neighbours and “enhance people-to-people linkages and promote economic growth and development”. Inland waterways transport with Kalughat in Bihar as the transhipment point was another key project. The spirit of friendship generated by the visit needs to be built upon as time goes by.