The Himalayan/ by Shyam Sharan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Nepal on August 3 and 4 has certainly hit all the right notes. It has raised very high expectations, not unlike those in India itself, and on their fulfilment, within a reasonable period of time, rests the future of India-Nepal relations.

What were the high notes? In every pronouncement, Modi accorded respect and courtesy to his hosts. This was not an arrogant big brother talking down to a smaller neighbour. This set the right tone throughout the visit. In his speech to the Constituent Assembly, the Indian leader conveyed a categorical and public assurance that India had no desire to interfere in Nepal’s internal affairs, thus reinforcing a similar assurance conveyed earlier by Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj. While expressing the hope that the Constituent Assembly would fulfil its mandate expeditiously, comments on the nature of the Constitution were avoided, except on one significant issue. By conveying his respect for Nepal’s ‘Federal, Democratic Republic, as per the wishes of the people of Nepal’, Modi put to rest apprehensions that India under the BJP would not be averse to a revival, in same form, of Nepal’s monarchy. The Indian leader reiterated what had also been conveyed earlier by his foreign minister, that India would be agreeable to ‘the review, adjustment and updating of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1950, in order to reflect current realities’.

At the welcome banquet in his honour hosted by the Nepal prime minister, Modi said, "My doors are open, I invite you to bring any suggestions to review the 1950 Treaty, if you so want.” The foreign secretaries of the two countries are expected to meet soon in order to make necessary recommendations in this regard......[read more]