The treaty to strengthen and develop India-Nepal ties has been in question in Kathmandu over the years. A call to revise it was raised again earlier this month.
A Communist Party of China delegation spent 4 days in Nepal, playing mediator between two factions of the ruling Nepal Communist Party. The Chinese envoy too held meetings with both factions.
India Wednesday sharply reacted to Nepal’s new official map that includes disputed territories, saying “such artificial enlargement of territorial claims will not be accepted”.
While Nepal has assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi that its soil will not be used in any manner to challenge New Delhi, losing control over Nepal’s economic reconstruction would be a strategic setback for India.
Many leaders feel India has dropped the issue of Madhesi rights in Nepal’s constitutional scheme and reverted its diplomatic focus on ‘appeasing Kathmandu’
Finance ministry says the proposed revamp will focus on structural reforms, rate rationalisation & ease of living, & will be deliberated upon in the coming weeks.
The project is meant to be a ‘protective shield that will keep expanding’, the PM said. It is on the lines of the ‘Golden Dome’ announced by Trump, it is learnt.
Standing up to America is usually not a personal risk for a leader in India. Any suggestions of foreign pressure unites India behind who they see as leading them in that fight.
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