South Asia: Nepal (Dialogue)

Winning India Over

• Baburam Bhattarai’s visit to India secures its support for the peace process in Nepal but are the “hardliners” convinced?
• Barely a week after his return to Kathmandu, the more contentious aspects of a peace process that had begun in 2005 were resolved after a three-year long stalemate.
• The Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) or UCPN, the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) or UML have signed a nine-point deal that paves the way for the parliamentarians to focus on the writing of a new constitution.
  

SOUTH ASIA: Nepal (Dialogue)

Cooperation with Nepal

• The Union Minister of Commerce, Industry and Textiles, Shri Anand Sharma has expressed satisfaction that bilateral trade between India and Nepal has increased from US$ 1985 mn in 2009-10 to around US$ 2700 in 2010-11 registering an increase of around 36%. Exports from Nepal to India have also grown from US$ 452mn in 2009-10 to US$ 476mn in 2010-11 (an increase of around 5.3%). During his meeting with his Nepalese counterpart Shri Mr. Anil Kumar Jha, here today, Shri Sharma singled out hydro power sector for increased cooperation between the two countries.
  

SCIENCENVIRO (Opinion) : Protecting the Himalayas

Protecting the Himalayas

• The ministerial declaration issued by India, Bhutan, Nepal, and Bangladesh addressing food, water, energy, and biodiversity concerns in the Himalayan region is a welcome initiative to protect this biodiversity-rich mountain range.
• Some of the serious issues that need urgent attention are accelerated forest loss, soil erosion, resource degradation, and loss of habitat and biodiversity.
  

SOUTH ASIA: Nepal (Dialogue)

Think mutual benefit

• Three sets of issues present themselves to the two prime ministers.
• The first is about India’s attitude to the internal turbulence in Nepal.
• India’s Nepal policy, however, is not about choosing sides between the Maoists and other political formations
• The political chatter in Kathmandu about Bhattarai being “pro-India” and Prachanda (Pushpa Kamal Dahal) as “pro-China” has little policy consequence in Delhi.
• India is eager to hear from Bhattarai on how he wants to lead Nepal’s current political crisis by wrapping up the work on the drafting of the constitution and integrating Maoist fighters into the national army on reasonable terms.