Nepal PM says Constitution can be amended

Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 16

Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli today said Nepal’s national interest would be the top priority during his upcoming India visit.

Oli’s visit to India, which begins on Friday, comes in the backdrop of a severe strain in the India-Nepal bilateral relationship. Oli acknowledged as much today when he said that his India visit “aimed at removing the recent differences between the two countries and strengthening the historical bilateral ties”.

India-Nepal relations have suffered of late on two major counts. One: the six-month blockade, which ended just a short while ago, crippled Nepal to the point of a humanitarian crisis. Nepal suffered from a severe shortage of fuel and medicines as a result of the blockade on major points between the India-Nepal border. Two: India publicly expressed its unhappiness with the new Nepalese Constitution, which it felt was not “inclusive” enough and failed to protect the rights of the Madhesis in the Terai region.

Nepal, on more than one occasion, accused India of being behind the blockade and the statements on its Constitution were deemed as interference in its internal affairs.

Oli’s visit here will see both sides working hard to put these uncomfortable facts behind them and to reach some sort of an amicable understanding. Oli’s announcement today, that a high-level political committee will be formed before his India visit to study the remaining contentious issues, including the redoing of provincial boundaries, will be welcome news to India. “The new Constitution can be amended. There is no problem among us,” he said. India has been pushing Nepal to amend its Constitution to address the demands of the Madhesis who are ethnically and culturally closer to India.