New Nepal

Pushpa Kumar Dahal8217;s visit to Delhi this week will not, of course, be the first time he has been in India. He has been here before, for stays both long and short, over- and underground. This time, though, he arrives not as Prachanda, the shadowy leader of an insurgency but as Prime Minister Dahal, the duly elected leader of a new and hopeful republic. His visit will not consist of his slipping in and out but will be surrounded by all the attention and ceremony that an official visit engenders. He arrives with a large staff, a packed schedule, and, apparently, a desire to rework the Indo-Nepalese relationship to bring it into the 21st century.

New Delhi has justifiably been wary of the Maoists north of the border. Their ideological comrades in India have turned large portions of Indian territory into no-go areas for the state, and parts of the Communist Party of Nepal Maoist would be more than happy to tilt Nepal8217;s foreign policy towards that of China, at India8217;s expense. Yet that must not stand in the way of engaging in the best of faith with Dahal, who has several new ideas on how to reinvigorate a bilateral relationship that has become mired in resentment. Whether the 1954 Kosi treaty affected the likelihood of the recent floods is just one example of the areas where old paradigms should be reviewed; there is no better time to do so than when Nepal is self-consciously reinventing itself.

Nothing as complex and multifaceted as the Indo-Nepali relationship can be reworked overnight, or even over a five-day visit. Even if it technically could, it would require a domestic consensus in Nepal that needs to be built. But that does not mean that in their talks with their new northern colleague, India8217;s leaders should not have one eye on a more equitable, efficient and sustainable set of agreements. Not only is it good for foreign policy, but, as these columns have consistently argued, India8217;s margins need all the help they can get 8212; and a genuinely friendly, stable Nepal could be very helpful indeed.