First the Nepal-India friendship is very solid, stable and very old. It doesn’t depend on specific issues or incidents. It is an everlasting friendship. Friendship is between government, people, businessmen and media. Our relation is very strong and it may be befitted from time to time by even. My conviction is this friendship always emerges stronger. Yes there are ups and downs in our relation time to time. After every such incident our relation has emerged stronger. I am confident that after these difficult that that we are facing, our friendship will emerge stronger.
Second point I want to make India’s friendship is with Nepal and with the people of Nepal. Yours is the diverse society. We are not friend with only with A, B, C group. India’s friendship is with Nepal. We talk about familial relations with Uttarkhand to Far Western part of Nepal. These are not limited with Terai. We have family relations Eastern Nepal to Sikkim in West Bengal. It is a pervasive people to people relationship. Our friendship is pervasive. We have large number of people belonging to Janajati community working in Indian armed forces. It’s not limited to any section, group or community. In the last few days, if u look at discourses…Images are sought to be created that India is pro-Madhesi, and anti-Pahadis. This is far from the truth. This is complete lie and false. India’s relation is all with entire Nepal.
India’s strategic objective is to see peace, development and stability in Nepal. Whenever there are disturbances in Nepal that suffers Nepal and so does India. India has always supported and felicitated resolution of conflict and disputes whenever they have happened. People are saying how can India oppose the constitution? Nepal people want of their free of will. There is no question India to oppose. To this long-cherished dream of people of Nepal, we are not opposing. The only point we have been saying Please take everyone along, we understand the complexity of society, plz take every one along. Take sentiment of everyone along. There have been a sense, this is the numbers game.
What we are saying is it’s not only about question of numbers. You must understand the sentiments. Numbers are important in democratic practice. Doesn’t it create a whole in democracy if some groups are left out in the process? What has been only a message from Indian highest level to Nepali leadership is: make the effort to take everybody along. If you don’t take along to them it sows seeds of future conflict. You must address the sentiment of those people. Are you not opening the door to instability? That is our message. That will affect India as well.
What is the core of strategic interest is to stable. Nepal’s instability is not our objective. India is supporting to stability and development of Nepal. We feel that there is going to be insecurity and instability. For decades and decades you went through conflict. We believe that nobody should feel left out the constitutional process. What implications will it have for Nepal? What advantage for relations to both countries? Let me make it clear we are not talking about seven points. Please you have to talk to agitating parties and make the country stable. If you have problem try and address it. Otherwise problems create violence. This is something people have to understand at this time.
How India irrationally can promote instability in Nepal? It’s not in Nepal and India’s interest. Why would India create problem to Nepal? What does India gain in any way by imposing embargo to Nepal? How does India benefit from this? There is another perception in Nepal that India was not consulted before constitution promulgation, this is not truth. Some people say India is very angry. This is not our view at all. Our policy doesn’t reflect such false views.
It’s not a question of India being hurt or not or any kind of ego problem. The rumor is irrelevant. We would welcome a new constitution if that ensures peace and stability here. In order to do that you need to consult that we are saying. If the people of Nepal are suffering, that is not good in India’s interest. We want stability; we see we see constitution as the culmination of peace process.
(A speech delivered by Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Ranjit Rae, during a talk program hosted by India-Nepal friendship Society on September 29, 2015)