An anxious India is closely watching events unfold in neighbouring Nepal after the Constituent Assembly formed to frame the Constitution failed to complete its task by the May 27 deadline, plunging the country into political turmoil.
The Constituent Assembly’s failure to frame the Constitution amidst sharp differences among rival political parties has prompted Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai to call for fresh elections to the Constituent Assembly in November, triggering a spate of protests by the Opposition.
Mr Bhattarai, who belongs to the United Communist Party of Nepal, has said he will head a caretaker government till then. But the Opposition parties, like the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), have demanded Mr Bhattarai’s resignation.
Amidst the ongoing political instability, the ministry of external affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said on Tuesday: “We are closely monitoring developments in Nepal.”
He also said, “India stands ready to assist according to the wishes of the people of Nepal.”
Till now, New Delhi has desisted from being part of any negotiations. But clearly any instability in a region of strategic importance to India, nestled as it is between India and China, does not bode well. New Delhi is also worried that any ethnic unrest in Nepal might have a fall-out in India too.
New Delhi in its statement also hoped that “the political parties of Nepal would continue to be guided by the spirit of consensus and peaceful dialogue in their efforts to transform Nepal into a stable, democratic and prosperous nation”.
The Constituent Assembly had been in place for nearly four years. But constant bickering and differences over such key issues as what the basis for the forming states in Nepal would be have prevented the blueprint of the Constitution from being finalised.