Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, during his six-day state visit to India starting Friday, is set to receive a grand welcome in New Delhi. Oli and his wife, Radhika Shakya, will be put up in Rashtrapati Bhawan, an honor reserved only for the most distinguished guests of India. This has stirred many speculations in Nepal. Why is India, after imposing a crippling economic blockade, now suddenly keen to welcome Nepal's head of government, the supposedly bête noir of the Madheshi parties? Is something cooking behind the scenes between the two governments? Alternately, does India have a host of agreements lined up that it wants Prime Minister Oli to sign? As if to allay such concerns, the Nepali prime minister on Tuesday assured the parliament that he would not do anything to compromise on Nepal's "sovereignty, independence and pride" during his visit. The visit would instead focus on clearing recent misunderstandings, he said, and to chart a new path in the age-old Nepal-India relations. We certainly hope that the prime minister sticks to his words and does not end up signing the kind of lopsided agreements with India that our prime ministers of recent past have been guilty of.If our government is serious about removing misunderstandings with India, it should pitch the idea of establishing a direct hotline between the two prime ministers so that they can directly talk to one another, as and when needed. During the recent blockade our prime minister had repeatedly tried to get in contact with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, but he could not get through easily. All such calls had to be routed through the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu and it could be days before a call could be arranged. This was one of the reasons Nepal could not correctly appraise the Indian political leadership about the ground realities in border areas. Since the Nepali establishment had to rely on many middlemen to deliver the message to Prime Minister Modi, such messages were invariably twisted. Such muddled messages, in turn, added to mistrust. So it makes sense to establish a direct line of communication for timely and accurate exchange of information.
There can be other confidence building measures from India—like waiver of high import duties on Nepali goods—that will give a clear indication to Nepalis that the Indian establishment is keen on reviving bilateral ties. For we strongly believe that after needlessly subjecting Nepali people to four months of unmitigated hardship—hot on the heels of the devastating earthquakes—the onus is on India to rebuild bilateral relations by giving a clear evidence of its good faith. We will get plenty of indications about whether India wants to continue with its recent big brother attitude to Nepal or if it wants to make amends and finally start treating Nepal as a sovereign country that needs to be treated with respect and dignity. India would be advised to take things slowly. After the unprecedented surge in anti-India sentiments in Nepal in recent times it will take some time for emotions to cool down. India has to understand that friendship cannot be foisted; it has to be gradually nurtured. India could start by committing to forever abjure coercive tactics like economic blockade against its closest friend.
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