November 21, 2024

India And The New Government In Nepal

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-07-26 17:11:00

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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.

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Prime Minister Modi did well to make a congratulatory call to the newly-appointed Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Singh Deuba soon after he won the confidence vote. India needs to dispel the perception in Nepal that it was in favour of K P Oli continuing as Prime Minister. Since the political equations have changed completely in the neighbouring nation, India has to make sure that it maintains cordial relations with the new regime.

What happened in Nepal was unprecedented. The parliament was dissolved twice - first by K P Oli and then by President Bidya Devi Bhandari. Both time, the Supreme Court of Nepal had to intervene to restore the primacy of the elected body. But now, Deuba has won the vote of confidence and is backed by an alliance that comprises of, besides his own party the Nepali Congress, the Maoist force led by Prachanda, a communist faction led by Madhav Kumar Nepal and the Upendra Yadav faction of Janata Samajbadi Party.

India has to now make the right moves to maintain good relations with Nepal's new regime. The boundary dispute was partially resolved when Nepalese foreign minister Pradeep Gyawali visited India in January this year and said both sides had agreed upon a mechanism to solve the dispute. India has to ensure that the Chinese dominance in Nepal does not harm Indian interests and the traditionally cordial relations with the strategically important neighbour are not soured.

Sher Bahadur Deuba is a seasoned politician and this is his fifth term as Prime Minister. Although Nepal is bound to keep its interests in mind when dealing with China, it is expected that the new regime will also maintain good relations with India. Hence, India has to remove the distrust and win back their confidence.