DHANGADHI, Nov 8: Nepali Congress (NC) General Secretary Shashank Koirala has said that the reported participation of the party president Sher Bahadur Deuba as speaker in a conference in India along with the leader of Tibetan government in exile, to China’s irritation, was ‘inappropriate’. He also clarified that the NC is committed to ‘One-China’ policy.
Addressing a press conference organized by the Nepal Press Union (NPU), Kailali Chapter in Dhangadhi, Koirala argued that the issue related to the Dalai Lama was sensitive one, and it is not a good idea to irritate China through the participation of Deuba in the conference organized by India Foundation in India.
“I don’t know why he did so. But it would have been better if he as the leader of the largest political party had skipped the conference considering the sensitivity of the issue,” he said.
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General Secretary Koirala said that the participation of Deuba in the India Ideas Conclave was in a personal capacity.
“Nepali Congress is committed to ‘One-China’ policy. The party has adopted a policy to maintain equidistant relations with both India and China since the time of B P Koirala,” he said.
Separately on the issue of constitution amendment, Koirala clarified that the NC is not in favor of allowing naturalized citizens to hold key state posts and recognizing Hindi as the language of official business.
Citing examples that Sonia Gandhi has not been able to assume the post of prime minister in India and there is provision to bar naturalized citizen from assuming the post of president in the United States, he said any amendment to allow naturalized citizens to head key post was not possible.
Koirala argued that any such provision could put Nepal’s independent existence itself in jeopardy as Nepal and India are asymmetrical in size and population. Arguing that Nepal itself has over 125 languages in use, it is not appropriate to recognize Hindi as language of official business.
