Reviewing India-Nepal treaty

PRASHANT ACHARYA

, EOI, KAKARVITTA, 25 Aug 2014: Nepal’s former ambassador to India, Prof Lok Raj Baral, is apprehensive after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart to review the Indo-Nepal treaty of 1950.

In an exclusive interview with the EOI, he said if the treaty is reviewed and the Indian government suddenly plans to make visas mandatory, citizens of both nations will be adversely affected and the centuries-long cultural ties between the two neighbours would receive a severe setback.

According to Baral, a review is not necessary and the primary task of the two nations is to resolve the problems along the border amicably. At the same time, it is important to keep a check on those seeking dual citizenship, he said.

The former emissary said Modi’s Nepal visit has helped in creating a stronger relationship with India, but there are several border issues that need to be examined and resolved.

Speaking at a dissemination and discussion programme on ‘Nepal-India Open Border: Problem and Prospects’ held in Kakarvitta, eastern Nepal, Baral said, “We should not only focus on the political benefits but the more serious and sentimental border issues should also be given their due importance.”

A study prepared by Prof Baral and Assistant Prof Dr Uddhab Pyakurel of Kathmandu University with support from the BP Koirala Nepal-India Foundation was today discussed among Indian and Nepalese journalists along with Nepalese government officials, security forces and several NGOs.

Dr Pyakurel said that not a single sentence has been written in the 1950 treaty about the open border between India and Nepal. He also said a meeting between Indian and Nepalese officials was held in 2007 in Dehradun to discuss border issues including encroachment, but no such meeting has been conducted since. The 130-page study, which took 15 months to complete, has interviewed more than 300 people and visited 36 border crossings.

Ek Mani Nepal, the chief district officer of Jhapa district in eastern Nepal, clarified there are no serious border demarcation problems. A joint survey conducted by the two nations recently saw 97 per cent of the problems being sorted out, while the remaining will be resolved after the formation of a new joint survey committee, he added.