oppn parties India-Nepal Relations: Need To Make Them Unshakeable Again

News Snippets

  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
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India-Nepal Relations: Need To Make Them Unshakeable Again

By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2022-05-16 15:14:03

Once upon a time, India did have a rock solid relationship with Nepal, or as Prime Minister Modi put it during his day-long visit to the neighbouring country today on the occasion of Buddha Purmina, that the relations between the two countries are "unshakeable, like the Himalayas". But ever since China discovered the valleys through the mountain range which allowed it to enter Nepal, a lot of dissatisfaction has crept in on both sides. It is against this background that Prime Minister Modi's visit to Nepal, a month after Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's India visit, must be viewed.

Two things clearly showed how far behind India had fallen in its relations with Nepal. Prime Minister Modi chose to reach Lumbini (the birth place of Lord Buddha) in a helicopter, landing at a newly-built helipad and clearly avoiding the swank, new Gautam Buddha International Airport that has been built with a soft loan from China and which was inaugurated earlier the same day by Prime Minister Deuba. Then, Modi laid the foundation stone of India International Centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage years after many frontline nations have already built their centres in Lumbini.

Modi did sign several important MoUs, including one to build a 490MW hydro-electric project in Nepal, but the reset in relations has to get better than this as several past differences, including the one over the new Nepal map showing territories in India as its own, need to be set right by continued negotiations at the appropriate level. India needs to have excellent relations with Nepal for security reasons also as it will help in countering China's expansionist designs. Both nations are very close culturally but the Nepalese have started leaning towards China due mainly its money power. India needs to counter that by extending help in all other areas and making the relations unshakeable again.

Picture courtesy: image tweeted by @MEA