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India, Nepal to reactivate border mechanism |
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India and Nepal last week decided to revive the local level bilateral mechanism to resolve their border dispute so that problems might be addressed as soon as they emerge. They also agreed to expedite implementation of past agreements and understandings. The decision was taken during a meeting Foreign Secretary Shiv Shanker Menon had with Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal in Kathmandu. By setting up a bilateral mechanism on the border issue, the two sides believe it will take the sting out of the Maoist campaign against alleged Indian encroachment of Nepalese territory in Dang district.
Talking to newsmen after the talks with Nepalese leadership on June 21, Menon said “We need to develop low level mechanisms at the local level where we can deal with local problems before they become either exaggerated or acquire political overtones”. He said most of the reports of Indo-Nepal border problems were “blown out of proportion”. He said since 98 per cent of the border is demarcated, reports of encroachment were only propaganda to fulfil the political interests of some parties. Most of the reported atrocities by a border force known as Shastra Seema Bal (SSB) on Nepali people were not true. They were played up for political purposes, he alleged. There were reports of displacement of thousands of Nepali people in Dang district by the SSB and also of its indecent behaviour with Nepali women. When Menon arrived in Kathmandu some people staged a black flag demonstration against him outside the airport.
During his two-day visit, Menon met top Nepalese leaders right from President Yadav to Prime Minister Nepal as well as Minister Sujata Koirala and Maoist leader Prachanda They discussed bilateral relations and the current political crisis in Nepal after Prachanda had to resign as Prime Minister following a stand-off with President Ram Baran Yadav over the sacking of the Army Chief, Gen. Katawal. The impact of the political stand-up on drafting a new constitution for also Nepal came up for review. May 2010 has been set as the deadline but there has been no tangible movement on the issue so far. Menon in his talks tried to convince the political leadership in Kathmandu to expedite the peace process by building a consensus among political parties.
A proposed extradition treaty and the Nepalese demand for a review of the 1950 India-Nepal Friendship treaty were also discussed. As was clear from Menon’s Press conference after the talks, New Delhi took strong exception to unfounded allegations that India had encroached upon various border points triggering an exodus of local people.
Early this month, the Nepal Government vindicated New Delhi’s stand by dismissing Maoist charges of Indian security forces encroaching in Dang and Bara districts. After a team investigated the allegations, Nepalese Home Minister Sujata Koirala said the preliminary reports did not find any encroachment on land nor harassment. This is not the first time the Leftists have in Nepal have accused India of intruding into their land. In 1996, they accused India of nibbling in the Jhapa area and New Delhi’s denial that “it was factually incorrect and motivated” followed a clarification by the Nepalese Foreign Minister that the on-gong work on demarcation of the border had, in fact, been cleared earlier by the then Communist-run Government. Similarly in 1998, the Nepalese alleged that Indian troops were occupying land in the Kalapani area. India admitted having moved some border pillars and these were pushed towards the Indian side, but this failed to convince them. The Leftists in Nepal are always on the lookout for a pretext to browbeat India or, rather, vent their frustrations. Take, for example, the December 2000 incident in which Leftist students reacted against Mumbai actor Hritik Roshan’s alleged derogatory remark against Nepalese in an interview by ransacking cinema halls showing his films. Some innocent lives were lost in the police firing. The interesting part of it was that this came about two weeks after the “remark” supposedly was made and the actor himself refused to apologize “for a thing I have not said”, suggesting a hidden hand behind all this. Now, with a seemingly pro-India government running the show in Nepal, more anti-Indian activities are expected.
Madhav expands Cabinet
Within 72 hours of Menon’s visit to Nepal to give a push to the stagnant peace process in the Himalayan Republic, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal expanded his Cabinet for the third time on June 24 inducting the Terai parties that had remained deadlocked over the allocation of portfolios. The nominees of the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF), the biggest Terai party that had locked horns with the Government demanding plum ministries were given Tourism and Civil Aviation and Agriculture portfolios. The Terai Madhes LokTantrik Party (TMLTP), the fifth largest party in the House, agreed to send three Cabinet Ministers while a formal royalist party, the Rashtriya Praja Tantra Party (RPTP), sent its senior leader, Deepak Bohara, as Forest Minister.
With these inductions Nepal now heads a six-party alliance in which the dominant partners are the Nepali Congress and his own Communist Party of Nepal (UML). So far, Nepal was not able to cobble together a stable combination even after more than two weeks with the Nepali Congress demanding important portfolios like Defence, Finance and Communication. With the fighting among the allies for powerful ministries reaching some kind of reconciliation, the new Government is trying to reach an understanding with the biggest party, the Maoists, who are sitting in the opposition. Terming Prime Minister Nepal’s CPN(UML) “a black sheep” among Communists, Prachanda said he will launch a “people’s movement” by forging an alliance with “nationalist forces” to establish civilian supremacy in the country. Addressing his party workers in Makawanpur in West Kathmandu Prachanda declared that the people’s movement would completely sweep away reactionaries, opportunists and traitors.
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