India optimistic of Nepal PM visit

With “positive atmospherics” perceived now in the Indo-Nepal ties which had witnessed a strain in the recent past, India is looking at a “substantive” outcome from the four-day visit of Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, popularly known as Prachanda, that is starting on Thursday.

India is looking to help Nepal with development assistance in the form of hydroelectric power projects and building road networks of thousands of kilometres in the Nepalese Terai region. At the same time, India wants Nepal to take steps to also address the concerns of its (Nepalese) Madhesi citizens who inhabit the Terai, over the newly-adopted Nepalese Constitution, as it feels the more the process in this regard gets delayed, the situation will “worsen and can get messy again”.

The caution comes ahe-ad of Mr Prachanda’s vis-it to India during which he will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Indian leaders.

“Atmospherics and vibes are positive after Mr Dahal, better known as Prachanda, replaced K.P. Oli who was adamant about not supporting amendment in the Constitution,” government sources said, adding that Mr Prachanda has spoken in support of addressing grievances in this regard.

“There is still a lot of uncertainty. The longer the delay, the more complicated it will become,” sources said, even as they acknowledged the enormity of the task facing the Nepalese leadership, saying that it is not easy to come to common ground.

They said the passage of a Constitution amendment would require two-thirds majority, technically possible, but not an easy task for the ruling alliance, but added that they were “reasonable confident that an amendment will be registered”.

If all goes well, the Indian President may visit Nepal and the vice versa, sources said.

Both the sides will work to sort out technicalities over hydro-power projects of 6,800 MW in Nepal so that these could take off the ground. On the unrest in Nepal after the new Constitution was adopted, sources said the Himalayan country had then thought that it is better to have a Constitution than not having one and that problems could be resolved later.

The Indian view was that unrest in a border region like Terai will affect Nepal as well as India and it wanted Nepal to address the people’s concerns.