Oli govt’s ‘immature’ foreign policy hampering country’s ties with neighbours: Nepal oppn parties

Last week, Nepal Communist Party (NCP) executive chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ demanded Oli’s resignation, saying his recent remarks that India was conspiring to remove him were “neither politically correct nor diplomatically appropriate”.

A meeting of the Opposition parties on Tuesday concluded that the Oli government has pursued a very imbalanced and irresponsible foreign policy, which is hampering Nepal’s relations with its neighbours, the Kathmandu Post reported.

Due to the immature foreign policy conduct, relations with neighbours have deteriorated and become very complex, according to leaders of the Nepali Congress (NC) and Janta Samajbadi Party (JSP). “The meeting concluded that Nepal is facing difficulties while maintaining good relations with its neighbours due to the government’s immature foreign policy,” NC vice-president Bimalendra Nidhi said without naming India.

Interestingly, the NC and the JSP backed the Oli government’s constitutional amendment bill to redraw Nepal’s new political map last month. The move triggered a row between India and Nepal with New Delhi terming as “untenable” the “artificial enlargement” of the territorial claims by Kathmandu.

The meeting also discussed the current political situation, the government’s decision to prorogue the House, its foreign policy conduct and its poor handling of the coronavirus pandemic among others, Nidhi said.

As pressure mounted on him from his own party leaders to resign, Oli on Thursday last got both Houses of Parliament prorogued. The move will prevent the Prachanda faction, backed by senior leaders and former prime ministers Madhav Nepal and Jhalanath Khanal, to bring a vote of no confidence against him.