Nepal Prime Minister Pushp Kumar Dahal “Prachanda” was a Maoist revolutionary when he became his country’s first post-monarchy PM in 2008. It was in this avatar that “Prachanda”, his nom de guerre from revolutionary days, first visited China on becoming PM. In his new avatar, Mr Dahal is attempting to make a transition to democracy and deserves all support. He has chosen to make India his first port of call. India should respect this.
As Mr Dahal himself indicated in New Delhi at the end of his visit Saturday, Nepal’s ties with China remained “undisturbed”. This is just as well. A problem in Kathmandu’s ties with Beijing can also put unpredictable strains on relations with New Delhi.
After their talks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Nepal PM said the two countries hoped to leave the unpleasant aspects of the past behind. This will take a lot of doing on both sides. Nepal expects India to be mindful of its “concerns and sensitivities”. Mr Modi also made his concerns known in a quiet way when he spoke of injecting energy into the existing defence and security relationship. The Nepal PM was wise when he spoke of the two sides agreeing to implement earlier agreements in infrastructure and major hydro power projects, rather than signing new deals. The Nepal leader’s visit promises much. Now, the real test is implementation.
