The Indian interlocutors were apparently impressed. Pushpa Kamal Dahal put on all the charms to woo back the South Block mandarins who have been deeply suspicious of the UCPN (Maoist) chairman’s loyalties ever since he, in the capacity of the prime minister, sacked former army chief Rookmangud Katawal in 2009 despite India’s strong reservations. His strident anti-India sermons during the insurgency have not been forgotten by seasoned observers of Nepal in India either. But after his latest trip to New Delhi, some of the same people are starting to believe that Dahal is genuinely committed to addressing Indian concerns vis-à-vis Nepal. Although Dahal played up his India visit as an important milestone in Indo-Nepal relationship, it was clearly meant to allay old fears on his eligibility as someone who could lead Nepal without jeopardizing vital Indian interests. With new CA polls on the horizon, Dahal seemed determined to clear the way for his ascendency to government leadership by getting New Delhi’s blessings at the eleventh hour. He made all the right moves in the Indian capital.
But if Dahal believes he has once and for all put to rest all of India’s concerns over his loyalty, he is clearly mistaken. Suspicions have been built over time. Removing entrenched doubts will take more than vigorous flesh pressing and gift of the gab that Dahal is noted for. It is, rather, what he does back home than what he says in New Delhi that matters. For instance, it would not have been lost on Nepal observers in New Delhi that despite the apparent shift in Dahal’s overt anti-India stand, he still chose to visit China before coming to India. Nor would his repeated call for ‘trilateral cooperation’ between India, China and Nepal have gone unheeded.
Although Dahal did not raise the issue during high-level meetings with Indian leaders including PM Manmohan Singh, he has been pushing the issue for some time now. India, which continues to view Nepal as an indispensible part of its security umbrella, is highly suspicious of any such attempts to ‘balance’ Indian influence in Nepal. Moreover, as relations between India and China improve, India has no need for an ‘intermediary’, even in trade-related matters, something which Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid made crystal clear on the eve of Dahal’s India visit.
Dahal’s biggest achievement from the recent visit is undoubtedly the part it has played in thawing of relationship between New Delhi and UCPN (Maoist). This is important because many in Indian establishment are still queasy about allowing a party that labels itself after Mao to hold the reins of power in Nepal, right next door to the Naxalite heartland. Maoist vice-chairman Baburam Bhattarai is a trusted Indian ally. Now with Dahal seemingly committed to democratic principles, India’s fear of the prospect of a Maoist-led government under Dahal after new CA polls must have been allayed to certain extent.
The fact that Dahal didn’t raise the thorny issue of the revision of the 1950 treaty, nor the intractable border concerns, must have assured India as well. Since none of the important national issues were raised during Dahal’s discussions with Indian leaders, his visit will have little or no effect on bilateral ties. Nonetheless, the level of trust that seems to have been built between the biggest democracy in the world and the biggest elected party in Nepal bodes well for the future of democracy in the country in the throes of transitional politics.
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