Third EPG meeting
The third meeting of the Eminent Persons Group on Nepal-India Relations (EPG-NIR) ended much like the second one did. The Nepali side reiterated its desire for significant changes in the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship, which has been the cornerstone of Indo-Nepal ties since its signing.

The Indian side ‘listened’ to the grievances of their Nepali counterparts, promising something substantive in response when the group meets again in Deharadun at the end of May. As much as the Nepali side tried to play up the ‘achievements’ of the third EPG meeting, it is hard to talk of success when the Indian side seemed to be in no mood to make any commitment. The Nepali side, to its credit, categorically laid out the problematic points of the 1950 treaty and offered the rationale for rewriting it as well as for updating all important bilateral agreements in line with the vast changes in South Asia in the past 70-odd years. Now the ball is in India’s court. The way the Indian side responds in Deharadun, in May, to the proposals of the Nepali side, will give ample indication of India’s commitment (or lack of it) to revisiting Nepal-India relations.  

Among major changes, Nepal wants more discretion in the import of weapons from countries other than India. Currently, there is an understanding that Nepal will import all its weapons from India (or via India). Nepal also wants the scrapping of the treaty provision that obliges Nepal to consult India in case of ‘any serious friction or misunderstanding’ with one of its neighbors. In Nepal’s understanding, these revisions are vital in order to establish Nepal’s independent and sovereign status. Nepal has also been arguing that the treaty provision “to grant, on a reciprocal basis, to the nationals of one country in the territories of the other the same privileges” in the matter of “residence, ownership of property…” should also be revised as it does not take the vast population difference between India and Nepal into account. The two sides are also discussing various trade and water- and energy-sharing schemes. Given the complexity of Nepal-India relations and given the broad remit of the two expert groups we don’t expect overnight solutions.

Negotiations will most likely continue until the fag end of the July-2018 deadline. 
Yet many Nepalis are skeptical that anything good will come out of the exercise. This is because there is as yet no indication that India is ready to reconsider its old Nehruvian doctrine whereby the whole of Indian subcontinent is considered as falling under India’s ‘sphere of influence’. India was the only big power that did not welcome the new Nepali constitution written by the representatives of the sovereign people. To express its displeasure, it even imposed five months of cruel economic blockade on Nepal, which is supposedly among India’s closest friends. This is why many Nepalis fear that India could be using the EPG platform as a decoy, while it further tightens the screws on Kathmandu. Perhaps this is a baseless fear. The onus is on India to disprove it.  

 
• eminent persons group on nepal-india relations
 
• peace and friendship