Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team are reluctant to discuss the border issue with the visiting Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’.
Prime Minister Modi's team is reluctant to discuss the border issue as some leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) close to the Indian government in Delhi, security experts and Nepal-India affairs experts are of the opinion that no conclusion can be reached immediately.
After the Parliament issued a new map of Nepal including Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulek about two years ago, India seems reluctant to discuss it. Prime Minister Dahal's political advisor Haribol Gajurel admitted that the Indian side was reluctant to discuss the border issue.
It is understood by many that the border issue will not enter into the discussions held in Delhi at the prime ministerial level. But the Indian government seems ready to discuss the report of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG), which has been on hold for a long time.
According to highly-placed sources close to the Ministry of External Affairs of India, Prime Minister Dahal's visit to India was organized with the agreement of "no formal discussion" after informing Kathmandu in advance that the border issue could not be discussed.
Prime Minister Dahal, who arrived in Delhi on Wednesday afternoon during his four-day visit to India, and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi will hold bilateral talks at Hyderabad House at 11 am on Thursday.
India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra met with PM Dahal at Hotel Maurya at 5:50 pm on Wednesday where Prime Minister Dahal is staying.
"Since there is no immediate solution, the border issue will not be discussed between Modi and Dahal at the Prime Minister's level," Dr. Nihar Nayak, an Indian expert on Nepal-India relations, said in Delhi on Wednesday, "but the EPG report will be discussed."
According to a leader of the BJP, experts from Modi's team have suggested not to enter into this matter now, as there will be no results after discussing the border problem at the Prime Minister's level.
The Indian side has argued that even if the agreement is reached on the border issue, it is not in a condition to be passed by a two-thirds majority in Nepal's parliament.
"Even if we reach an agreement on the border issue after discussions, it is not possible to pass it in Nepal's parliament," said a BJP leader.
While Delhi is reluctant to enter into the border issue, Kathmandu has made this issue the main agenda of the India visit. UML Chairman KP Oli has said that the India visit will be meaningless “if no initiative is taken to bring back the land of Nepal.”
Therefore, the Nepali side has prepared to raise this issue in informal talks, even if the border issue is not included in the formal talks.
Prime Minister Dahal's political adviser Gajurel claimed that since the border problem is a major agenda between the two countries, informal discussions will take place.
"The Indian side is reluctant to discuss the border problem, arguing that it cannot be passed by the Parliament of Nepal now,” said Gajurel in Delhi.
However, since this is one of the main agendas of the Prime Minister's India visit, the discussions will take place on it informally.
