‘India need not fear Nepal’s left turn’
‘China’s support to the Left Alliance in Nepal is open knowledge, so much so that people in Nepal do not feel the need to talk about it in hushed tones’.
India should not be worried about the coming of Left parties, traditionally considered anti-India, to power in the Himalayan country, Nepal based leaders, diplomats and journalists have said.
The Sunday Guardian spoke to experts in Nepal who said that there was no need to read too much into the general election results since the people of Nepal might have voted for “anti-India” parties, but they know the importance of maintaining healthy relations with India for a land-locked nation like Nepal.
Speaking to The Sunday Guardian, Deep Upadhyaya, former ambassador of Nepal to India, who also contested elections, said, “It is true that the Left Alliance has swept the elections. But India and Nepal are bound by geography, culture and traditions. The economic growth of Nepal and the easy terrain with our southern borders are unique. Any government responsible for the growth of Nepal will have to maintain good relations with India. This is the first time in history that after seven decades of unrest, people formed their own government under the new Constitution. We invite our neighbours to celebrate this. Diplomacy should definitely be done in a respectful manner.”
Congratulating Nepal, Ravish Kumar, spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs, said at a press conference here, “We look forward to working with the next democratically elected government in Nepal to advance our close and multifaceted partnership across all sectors and to support Nepal in its pursuit of peace, stability, economic prosperity and all-round development.”
According to observers in the region, the anti-India sentiment got deeply rooted in Nepal in the aftermath of the five-month long blockade by India that led to a shortage of fuel, medicines and food in land-locked Nepal which has conventionally been dependent on India for trade, supplies and jobs. Since the blockade, bashing India became a popular means to stir sentiments for electoral gains.
Anil Jha, chairman, Sadhbhavna Party, Nepal, said, “On media and in election campaigning, you will hear many bad things about India. But the truth is that while the people in Madhesh are known to be pro-India, they do not gain as much as people in the hills do from friendship with India. So, all this antiIndia sentiment is politics. On the ground, people just want the nation to develop.”
Nonetheless, China’s support to the Left Alliance in Nepal is open knowledge; so much so that people in Nepal do not feel the need to talk about it in hushed tones. Dinesh Yadav, a Kathmandubased journalist, told The Sunday Guardian, “In this election, specifically in the hills, nationalism meant bashing India. People are aware that the Left Alliance leans towards China and they are willing to accept the new friend as long as they don’t have to depend on India solely. To talk about it in practical terms, China has technology and money that Nepal needs to grow.”
The 2015 blockade was a consequence of the Constitutional tussle that put the Madhesh and Janjati communities in a less favourable position, while people in the hills gained the most out of the new Constitution. Though CPN-UML, the largest party of the Left Alliance, has secured the highest number of votes, sources in Nepal said that there can be a rift between the second party in the alliance, Maoist Centre, over the positions of the Alliance President and that of the Prime Minister. A source based in Kathmandu said: “There have been arguments between K.P. Oli, head of the UML, and Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal (also known as Prachanda) over positions. While Oli wants to retain both the positions of the Prime Minister and Alliance President, Prachanda wants to be given the Alliance President’s position. If the Left Alliance breaks, there is a chance that the Maoist Centre along with the ruling Nepali Congress and two major Madheshi parties, Rastriya Janata Party (RJP) and Federal Socialist Forum Nepal (FSFN), will come together to form the government since the priority for the Madheshi leaders now is to be a part of the government in order to have a chance of fair participation in the Constitutional amendment process.”
The combined number of seats secured by the RJP and FSFN is 21. RJP secured 11 seats, whereas FSFN won 10. The remaining four seats were divided among three fringe parties and an independent candidate. The Left Alliance bagged 116 seats out of a total 165 under the firstpast-the-post system in the just-concluded parliamentary polls. The governing centrist Nepali Congress won just 21 seats.
With Nepal’s Left Alliance, an alliance formed between the country’s former Maoist rebels, CPN Maoist and the Communists, CPNUML (Communist Party of Nepal-Unified-Marxist–Leninist), heading to a win in the recently concluded Nepal general assembly elections, concerns are being raised regarding how Nepal will “help” India in fighting terrorism.
Even though Nepal itself has not suffered any terror attacks, it has for long been used as a transit point to enter India because of the long (1,750 km), unguarded and porous border that it shares with India.
Official sources in the Intelligence community feel that the coming together of the Left alliance into power is not good news for India as former Prime Minister K.P. Oli, who is likely to become the PM again, and most of the alliance leaders, are close to China, unlike the Nepal Con-