NEW DELHI: Nepal’s adoption of a secular republican constitution despite India’s “advice” to have more discussion has led to strains between the two neighbours, Indian papers reported on Monday.

It is an open secret that Indian Hindu revivalists, including members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), are battling to re-establish a Hindu Rashtra in Nepal.

“Deeply concerned” over the continuing violence in Nepal, and the impact of Kathmandu’s decision to adopt the Constitution despite India’s advice, the Ministry of External Affairs on Monday called Indian Ambassador Ranjit Rae back to Delhi for consultations, The Hindu reported.

It said, in its third and most stern statement in three days on the situation in Nepal, the ministry asserted it had “repeatedly cautioned the political leadership of Nepal to take urgent steps to defuse the tension in [the Terai] region.

“This, if done in a timely manner, could have avoided these serious developments,” the statement added, referring to the clashes between Madhesi protesters and Nepali forces, as well as the impact on Indian transporters who have been stuck at the Biratnagar integrated border checkpost because of the violence.

The ambassador’s visit and MEA statement come a day after Nepal promulgated its Constitution, which India has refused to welcome, with officials saying that Nepal’s decision to go ahead with its Constitution despite India’s advice had “put a strain” on ties, according to The Hindu.

Nepal’s Ambassador to India Deep Kumar Upadhyay, meanwhile, told The Hindu he was “completely surprised” by the Indian reaction. “On a day when Nepal was celebrating, India didn’t join in with us that surprised us. I wish they had taken us into confidence about their reservations earlier,” Mr Upadhyay said, adding that Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar’s mission to Nepal last Friday, just before Sunday’s ceremony “came too late”. “We hope India realises this Constitution is just the beginning, a starting point from which we can move ahead to resolve our differences,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play