NEW DELHI: As India stays out of the ongoing political crisis in Nepal, instead looking to focus on its economic ties, Kathmandu has said that the Nepal government will not allow the current instability to come in the way of bilateral cooperation with India.
Speaking for the first time since the K P Sharma Oli government dissolved the lower house of Parliament last week — plunging the country into political turmoil— Nepal's ambassador to India Nilambar Acharya told TOI the Oli government is looking to hold the foreign minister-level Joint Commission meeting that will see Nepal foreign minister Pradeep Gyawali visiting India.
"Preparations are on for the Joint Commission meeting and the visit by the foreign minister. The lower house of the Parliament has been dissolved but the government and other institutions are still working," said Acharya, adding that bilateral ties with India had improved significantly in the past few months after the tensions over the Kalapani dispute.
"With the visit by the Indian Army chief and then the foreign secretary, there has been a turnaround in the relationship and this trend is going to hold," said Acharya.
Nepal's reciprocation of the willingness expressed by India to build upon the recent improvement in ties is significant at a time when India refuses to turn itself into a factor in Nepal's domestic politics even as China makes a blatant and frenzied effort to keep Oli and his rival P K Dahal Prachanda together.
While steering clear of the political shenanigans in Kathmandu, India has sought to keep building bilateral engagements upon the discussions during foreign secretary Harsh Shringla's visit last month.
The visit was followed by 2 back-to-back virtual meetings between the commerce and energy secretaries. The Oli government had responded positively to Shringla's suggestion of resuming people-to-people contacts and for commencement of an air travel bubble between the 2 countries.
Indian ambassador V M Kwatra Monday met Nepal's new energy minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi and discussed bilateral energy and power cooperation, including implementation of joint projects.
Despite his pro-China image, and the decision earlier to release a new political map of Nepal, Oli had worked in the past few months to improve ties with India and also allay concerns that his government was acting in China's interest.
Sources in Kathmandu continue to insist that Nepal would never have issued a new map if India had agreed earlier to address the Kalapani issue through dialogue.
While India, unlike China, is not wedded to the idea of unity in the ruling NCP, the government also knows that any intervention in the Nepal crisis is unlikely to go down well not just with the political establishment in Kathmandu but also the common man.
China, which rushed a delegation to help resolve differences between Oli and Dahal, is faced with allegations of interference in Nepal's internal affairs.
The Chinese delegation leader, Guo Yezhou, had met President B D Bhandari and Oli Sunday. On Monday, he met Dahal, apparently to convince him to drop his opposition to Oli, and M K Nepal who replaced Oli as co-chair of the party. Guo was also said to have discussed with Oli if it might be possible for him to roll back his decision to dissolve the House of Representatives. The Supreme Court will decide on the merit of the decision next month.
China Monday also urged all sides in Nepal to bear in mind the nation’s interest, the overall picture and "properly handle internal disputes" and strive to achieve political stability and national development. The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said that the CPC will work together with all political parties in Nepal to promote China and Nepal’s strategic cooperation partnership and promote benefits to people of the 2 countries.