Nepal: Amid Sino-US Great Game, Kwatra carries Modi invite for Dahal
Photo credit Indian embassy in Kathmandu
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, February 13: Foreign Minister Vinay Mohan Kwatra has arrived in Kathmandu, carrying Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invite to his counterpart Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’. With Kwatra’s high level visit, India has made the first official contact with the new government in Kathmandu after a last-minute political realignment saw Dahal pipping his predecessor Sher Bahadur Deuba to become Prime Minister of the Himalayan nation.
Kwatra will hand over Modi’s invitation to Dahal, who is slated to visit India next month. Modi-Deuba bonhomie had seen India-Nepal relations gaining fresh warmth, with a flurry of high level visits between the two countries. Dahal had last year visited the office of the Bharatiya Janata Party and met party president JP Nadda. Dahal heads Maoist Communist Centre (MCC). He struck a deal with K.P. Sharma ‘Oli’, his erstwhile nemesis, to form the government in Nepal after breaking ties with Nepali Congress.
Nepal observers are keenly watching the power play between the US and China in Nepal. India doesn’t want to become a bystander in the ‘Great Game’ of two super powers in her close neighbourhood, noted a senior diplomat. It may be recalled that a series of high level visits have been seen in Nepal from the US, with Washington making clear its intent to scale up financial assistance programme with the Himalayan nation. This is seen to be a build-up of a competition with China, which is noted in the diplomatic circles of enjoying heft in the Communist parties. There had been visits of senior political leaders from Oli’s political outfit to Beijing in the run up to the last year’s elections, besides a visible role of the Chinese ambassador in Kathmandu.
Kwatra is leading a high level delegation to Kathmandu, and he’s slated to hold bilateral meeting with his counterpart Bharat raj Paudyal. His visit has also come at a time when there is a visible fissure in the ruling alliance over the upcoming election for Nepal’s President, with local political observers noting that Dahal is keen to stall Oli from forcing his choice in the Presidential election. Also, the ruling alliance has seen a key ally – Rashtriya Swatantra Party – exiting the government.
China is pushing Nepal to expedite the feasibility study of a key rail line. India is also moving speedily with a rail line project with Nepal. The US has become a third actor in Nepal with clear aims to limit the influence of China.
About The Author
