External Affairs Secretary of India, Vikram Misri, who came to Nepal for a customary visit last week visited opposition party CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ in Khumaltar following his separate courtesy calls on the President and the Prime Minister.
During his two-day Nepal visit, Misri paid visits to ruling Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba in the latter’s residence, Budhanilkantha, four ministers including, Home, Urban Development and Foreign Affairs.
Before wrapping up his short Nepal visit, Misri also made sure to meet Madhav Nepal, chairman of CPN (Unified Socialist), the sixth largest party represented in the federal parliament of Nepal, among others.
Foreign Minister Rana, who flew to India five days after Misri returned home, paid courtesy calls on the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and External Affairs Department head of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Vijay Chauthaiwale. She had no schedules to meet with any other leaders during her five-day India visit. She did not meet with opposition party leader Rahul Gandhi and civil society party leaders, either.
On the day when Minister Rana met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim also arrived in India. He did not limit his visits to the Prime Minister and the ministers alone but also paid a visit to the opposition party leader of Indian Congress I, Rahul Gandhi. Ibrahim singed an important bilateral deal with Modi on Tuesday and met with Rahul Gandhi the next day.
Not only Foreign Minister Rana, but also the Prime Minister, opposition leaders from Nepal who went on an official visit to India earlier did not visit the opposition and civil society leaders.
Nepali leaders have been limiting their visits only to ruling party leaders during their India visit since Modi came into power and especially after 2017.
There used to be many visits in the past
Then Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had met with opposition leader Congress I Chairperson Sonia Gandhi during his India visit in 2017
However, Deuba did not feel it necessary to meet with Gandhi when he visited India in 2022, citing his busy schedule.
Similarly, then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal who went on an official visit to India in 2008 had visited opposition BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani. The BJP was the main opposition party then. Similarly, Prachanda met with then BJP President Rajnath Singh in 2013. He was not the Prime Minister then. After a few months, BJP came to power putting a break on Congress I’s ascent to power.
In 2023, when Prachanda, as the Prime Minister of Nepal, went to India, he did not meet with any leaders of opposition parties.
Nepali Congress leader and former Nepali Ambassador to India, Deep Kumar Upadhyay says, Nepali leaders of old generations including BP Koirala, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, Manmohan Adhikari and Girija Prasad Koirala used to visit the leaders from all sides including opposition party leaders.
“When they used to visit India, there was a tradition to meet with leaders of all sides, irrespective of opposition party and civil society leaders,” said Upadhyay, “These generations had also fought for the independence of India. They were in direct contact with the contemporary leaders of India. This trend is gradually on the wane,” says Upadhyay.
Out of fear or disregard?
Now the question arises why Nepali leader stopped meeting with the opposition leaders of India, of late.
Former Nepali Ambassador to India, Lok Raj Baral, says they stopped visits with opposition leaders due to concerns that it could strain relations with the ruling party.
“This is probably due to the apprehension of leaders,” said Baral,”It feels, the visits with the opposition leaders might aggravate the relations with the ruling party leaders.”
Baral stressed the need to visit the opposition leader, too, since the opposition party emerged stronger in the Lok Sabha elections 2024.
“Our Nepali leaders should have met at least opposition leader Rahul Ghandhi,” said Baral, “The opposition party has a strong hold in the parliament. But our leaders have concerns that it would annoy the ruling party leaders.”
Former Ambassador Upadhyay opines that Indian leaders do not think the way Nepali leaders do and it should not be taken that way when it comes to diplomatic affairs.
Impact of bypassing visits
The relation between Nepal and India does not limit to the government to the government but to the age-old people to people ties sharing cultures and marital relations.
In other words, there has been a tradition of cross-cultural marriages between India and Nepal since time immemorial.
“The relation between India and Nepal does not limit to the government to government but the two countries have been linked by cross-cultural marriages for generations. This is a historical legacy,” says Upadhyay.
He suggests that the leaders should not limit themselves to party-to-party relations but widen their ties to other various organizations including civil society leaders.
“It is the responsibility of the government to explore ways to bolster the people-to-people relations between the two countries,” says Upadhyay.
If ignored, Nepal's well-wishers will dwindle, and fewer will speak out against injustice when Nepal suffers, warns Upadhyay.
