In the first foreign reaction to developments in Nepal, the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday reacted cautiously to questions related to the current crisis in Nepal. It said that the crisis in the Himalayan kingdom is an internal matter of the country. It needs to be stated that Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli had last week dissolved the Parliament, known as the National Assembly like in many countries, and had called for snap elections in April-May next year. He had only taken office in 2017 and was still to complete his full term.
After the dissolution, the opposition had termed Mr. Oli’s step as a ‘constitutional coup’. In addition, Chinese ambassador to Nepal, Hou Yanqi, has tried to broker a truce between the factions led by Mr. Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” since the crisis erupted. She has also met President Bidya Devi Bhandari in this connection. Mr. Oli and Mr. Prachanda, it should be stated, had merged their parties in 2018 to form the Nepal Communist Party.
Asked about the political uncertainty in Nepal, Anurag Srivastava, Ministry of External Affairs spokesman, said: “We have noted the recent political developments in Nepal. These are internal matters for Nepal to decide as per its democratic processes.” He also added that India will continue to support Nepal and its people in its quest for peace, prosperity and development.
Interestingly, Nepal foreign minister Pradeep Gyawali was scheduled to visit New Delhi earlier this week before the dissolution of Parliament. At this stage, it needs to be stated that the two South Asian countries had been embroiled in a dispute over the Kalapani region earlier this year. Actually, the Nepali authorities issued a map in May this year which showed Kalapani as a part of Nepal.
India had later sent Army chief M M Naravane, Foreign Secretary Harshvardhan Shringla and RAW chief Samant Goel as part of efforts to mend the bilateral ties.
