Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s visit to the Indian capital later this week has received a lot of attention from op-ed editors of major broadsheet dailies published in Kathmandu on Sunday. In this context, articles on different dimensions of ties between India, Nepal and China have also been given prominence.
Deuba’s visit to India
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba heads to New Delhi on Wednesday to meet his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and to continue the tradition under which Nepali PMs visit India first before going on any other foreign trip. Saroj Gautam in his piece for Annapurna Post says that if statements made by former Prime Ministers is anything to go by, Nepali PMs and their Indian counterparts have never had an ‘open’ discussion on the real issues. He says that during the bilateral visits, only issues settled at the bureaucratic level are taken up during summit meetings. He argues that Nepal should clearly tell India what it wants from India and vice-versa.
Existential crisis within RJP
As Province 2 prepares to go for local polls on September 18, Sukhdev Shah in his piece for Republica says the whole raison d’être of ‘Madheshi Politics’ hinges on the outcome of the elections. “Should Mahdesi parties lose heavily–in local election next month and also predictably, in provincial and parliamentary elections–Madhesi politics will lose its raison d’être. If its leaders still choose to do politics, they would operate as fringe groups outside of national mainstream and be identified as rebels without a cause.”
He says even in the face of this challenge, Madheshis remain divided. He says there is little to hope for during the local elections as the parties are staring at a rout.
Nepali millennials’ dreams
Noted academic Abhi Subedi in his piece for The Kathmandu Post says there are a handful of conditions required to fulfill the dreams of people, which are a collective phenomenon. But there are two reasons why the dreams of Nepali millennials cannot be fulfilled: the country is not well managed and the geopolitical issues of our times. He says political leaders should be guided by noble principles and be honest about how we handle our economy.
Foreign Minister’s interview
File image: Maoist leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara
Foreign Affairs Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara in his one-page-long interview for Kantipur says Nepal will not get involved in issues related to bilateral ties between India and China. His comment comes just days ahead of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s visit to New Delhi. There have been reports in the Indian press that a section of the Indian establishment wants Kathmandu to be involved in talks between the two countries over the Doklam issue.
In the interview, Mahara says Nepal remains neutral on the Doklam issue. On the recent floods in the Terai, he says damage on the Nepali side would have been less had the Indian side opened the flood gates earlier than it did. On BIMSTEC, Mahara says it cannot replace SAARC as the main regional cooperation body.
