PM to embark on India visit on October 21
KATHMANDU:
Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai will embark on an official visit to India on October 21, the chief executive’s chief political adviser, Devendra Paudel, said today. Paudel said at an interaction at Reporters’ Club that PM Bhattarai, during his talks with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh, will take up the 1950’s Peace and Friendship Treaty and the security and arms purchase treaty of 1965.
In the discussions, Nepal will “propose abrogating” the Peace and Friendship Treaty and the security and arms purchase treaty, Paudel said.
A senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the date of PM’s India visit had been fixed during the meeting between PM Bhattarai and his Indian counterpart Singh on the sidelines of the 66th United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 21. The foreign ministry official told this daily that the PM’s visit would last three to four days on account of Dipawali celebrations and urgency to conclude peace and constitution-making processes. The official, however, said Nepal is yet to set the agendas of the visit. “The agendas will be worked out only after holding consultations with government secretaries, business community and political parties immediately after Dashain,” the source said.
“The issues of terminating the 1950 treaty and the 1965 security and arms purchase treaty will definitely not figure in bilateral negotiations,” said the official. “The PM might raise these issues with his Indian counterpart informally.” Nepal’s Leftist parties have been seeking the replacement of the “unequal treaties” with new ones in mutually respectable and dignified manner, arguing that the existing treaties have compromised Nepal’s independence and sovereign rights.
During his visit to India, PM Bhattarai will also make an announcement that Nepal wants to develop itself as a “bridge” between the two emerging economic Asian giants, not as a buffer state, Paudel said. He informed that PM Bhattarai would pay an official visit to China immediately after his return from India.
Source: THT
Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai will embark on an official visit to India on October 21, the chief executive’s chief political adviser, Devendra Paudel, said today. Paudel said at an interaction at Reporters’ Club that PM Bhattarai, during his talks with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh, will take up the 1950’s Peace and Friendship Treaty and the security and arms purchase treaty of 1965.
In the discussions, Nepal will “propose abrogating” the Peace and Friendship Treaty and the security and arms purchase treaty, Paudel said.
A senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the date of PM’s India visit had been fixed during the meeting between PM Bhattarai and his Indian counterpart Singh on the sidelines of the 66th United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 21. The foreign ministry official told this daily that the PM’s visit would last three to four days on account of Dipawali celebrations and urgency to conclude peace and constitution-making processes. The official, however, said Nepal is yet to set the agendas of the visit. “The agendas will be worked out only after holding consultations with government secretaries, business community and political parties immediately after Dashain,” the source said.
“The issues of terminating the 1950 treaty and the 1965 security and arms purchase treaty will definitely not figure in bilateral negotiations,” said the official. “The PM might raise these issues with his Indian counterpart informally.” Nepal’s Leftist parties have been seeking the replacement of the “unequal treaties” with new ones in mutually respectable and dignified manner, arguing that the existing treaties have compromised Nepal’s independence and sovereign rights.
During his visit to India, PM Bhattarai will also make an announcement that Nepal wants to develop itself as a “bridge” between the two emerging economic Asian giants, not as a buffer state, Paudel said. He informed that PM Bhattarai would pay an official visit to China immediately after his return from India.
Source: THT
