After coming to power, Sher Bahadur Deuba govt seeking to further strengthen ties with India

Since Sher Bahadur Deuba assumed office as Prime Minister of Nepal, his administration has been seeking to further strengthen relations with India.

India-Nepal relations have been turbulent since 2015 when Kathmandu promulgated a new constitution through a historic Constituent Assembly, which New Delhi found problematic in a number of ways. Apart from this, there were some other issues too, reported The Diplomat.

But since Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba came to power in July, Nepal's new administration is finding a way to further strengthen ties with New Delhi.

The Deuba administration has been actively seeking India's support. After July, there have also been various engagements between the two sides apart from the top-level visit.

Ahead of his party's 14th General Convention, which is a month away, Deuba is seeking New Delhi's favour for his candidacy as Nepali Congress (NC) president. Deuba, 75, is fighting for another term as the president of his party - and thus as prime minister, said The Diplomat.

The ruling NC in Nepal had invited Bharatiya Janata Party's Foreign Affairs Department chief Vijay Chauthaiwale for the visit in late August. Chauthaiwale had met Deuba and other top leaders in Nepal during his visit.

Chauthaiwale, since 2020 as a representative of BJP, has been interacting with Nepal's political parties.

After Deuba became Prime Minister in July, Chauthaiwale was the first high-level guest from India.

A Nepali congress team had also visited India in early October following Chauthaiwale's visit. The team held talks with BJP officials, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

There were broadly two agenda items for the visit: first, enhancing NC's party-to-party relations with the BJP and learning from the BJP's experiences in organization building, The Diplomat reported.

Apart from it the team also conveyed Deuba's message to India. The team raised Nepal's key agenda items in their meeting with Jaishankar. These meetings provided an opportunity for both sides to discuss top concerns and chalk out their respective strategies.

Nepal's Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka and Jaishankar had met also on the sidelines of the 76th General Assembly of the United Nations and discussed a wide range of bilateral issues.

And recently on the sidelines of the COP-26 Deuba met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

During the meeting, the Nepali PM extended an invitation to Modi to visit Nepal at the earliest opportunity. Modi also extended an invitation to Deuba to visit India. There is a tradition of Nepali prime minsters making their first overseas trip to India after assuming office, but Deuba's India visit is yet to be finalised. In the past three months, Deuba has been busy in managing an unruly coalition government and preparing for the NC's General Convention activities. In the near future, either Deuba will pay a visit to New Delhi or Modi will visit Nepal, according to The Diplomat.

Further, the US-based magazine said that the ongoing interactions between New Delhi and Kathmandu must be continued in the days to come. The absence of talks at top levels creates suspicion and misunderstanding between the two countries. The upcoming high-level visits between two countries are expected to contribute to cementing the bilateral ties.

At the same time, both sides should be serious about resolving the pressing bilateral issues, because if such issues remain pending they could create friction at any time. Open and candid discussions between two sides are the only way to move ahead, and that is not happening, the publication added.

( With inputs from ANI )

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