All three sides to the current crisis in Nepal—the Big Three, the Madhesh-based parties and India—after four months of uninterrupted protests in the Tarai belt, and the resulting economic embargo, seem to be tiring and are looking for a safe-landing. India has thus welcomed the three-point roadmap proposed by the Nepali Cabinet on Sunday. The roadmap proposes delineation of electoral constituencies on population basis (with the rider of at least one constituency for every district), formation of a political committee that will be given three months to work out provincial boundaries and constitutional amendments to make citizenship provisions more inclusive. India, according to the statement issued by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs on Monday, "welcomes these developments as positive steps that help create the basis for a resolution of the current impasse in Nepal." India says it's "confident that a return to normalcy in Nepal would create a more secure and predictable climate for unimpeded commerce between our two countries." Supposedly, this state of 'normalcy' will be created when "Nepali political forces... demonstrate the necessary maturity and flexibility to find a satisfactory solution to the Constitutional issues through constructive dialogue in an agreed timeframe."As demarcation of federal provinces has been at the heart of the standoff between the Big Three and the Madhesh-based parties, India suggests there be "an appropriate arrangement in the Constitution" to resolve this issue, a clear reference to the political committee proposed by the cabinet. We are glad that India is finally doing a sensible thing by supporting a political course charted by Nepalis and, for a change, is not trying to impose ready-made solutions. Now we hope India will ease the movement of goods and fuel into Nepal, which it has been inexplicably blocking for past three months. Otherwise, issuing statements saying it welcomes a particular course of action in Nepal will be meaningless. The Madhesh-based parties, too, seem to have realized the folly of their demand that a knotty issue like border demarcation be immediately settled. But it would be wrong to portray the three-point proposal and its welcoming by India as a 'loss' of Madheshi parties. The three-point proposal is rather a win-win formula, a respite for thirty million Nepalis whose lives were thrown badly out of gear after the Indian blockade.
In fact, the Madheshi parties should see the Big Three's commitments on electoral constituencies on population basis and proportional representation of all ethnic communities in state organs as the victory of their agenda. This is not all. The province borders are to be revised, and so will current citizenship provisions. Wasn't this what they had been agitating for all along? The Big Three, for their part, can now claim that it is due to their unprecedented unity that the new constitution, and now its implementation, was made possible. By reversing its course now, India, too, will ensure that Nepal will not lurch dangerously towards China, something it has always wanted to avoid. The proposed settlement is not flawless. But it was unrealistic to expect perfect solutions in such a diverse country—and in such a polarized polity.
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