India in damage control move after backing king: Agitation in Nepal
NEW DELHI, April 22: India expressed support on Saturday for Nepal’s seven-party opposition political alliance in what analysts said was a face-saving exercise after New Delhi initially welcomed King Gyanendra’s offer.
The government’s statement came after Indian newspapers described New Delhi as hailing the monarch’s Friday declaration that he would give up the absolute powers he seized last year.
On Saturday, however, New Delhi said the press reaction to its statement in which it said it “welcomes his (the king’s) intention to transfer all executive power of the state” had been a “misrepresentation” of India’s stand.
“There is no question of India’s commitment to democracy in Nepal. I want this message to go very loud and clear,” foreign secretary Shyam Saran told reporters in New Delhi.
“We support the view of the (seven-party) alliance that restoration of peace and multi-party democracy in Nepal is the need of the hour,” he said.
Praising the political parties for leading a peaceful pro-democracy movement, Saran said a statement by the alliance earlier Saturday rejecting the king’s offer was a reiteration of the parties’ long-stated agenda.
DAMAGE CONTROL: Anaylsts said India’s latest statement about Nepal was aimed at controlling damage done by its support for the king’s offer.
“India got the shock of rejection by political parties. It just doesn’t understand the mood in Kathmandu. It’s now in a soup, as it is being seen as an ally of the king,” said Sukh Deo Muni, Nepal expert and former professor of South Asian politics at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Mr Muni said New Delhi was engaging in a “damage-control exercise”.
But New Delhi was stopping short of openly calling for a constituent assembly in Nepal to decide the future role of the king that the Nepalese opposition has been demanding, he said.
“India is still not coming out in favour of the constituent assembly in the fear that it will lead to the king’s ouster,” Mr Muni said.
Muni said a pro-monarchy stand could harm India’s image in its Himalayan neighbour “for all times to come because what you see in the streets of Nepal now is the future of Nepal.”—AFP
