Nepal's RSP Chief Rabi Lamichhane to Visit India Amid Bilateral Tensions

Nepal's ruling RSP chief Rabi Lamichhane to visit India on June 1-2

Kathmandu, May 31

Manish Jha, spokesperson of the party, told IANS that Lamichhane is visiting New Delhi for two days at the invitation of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National President Nitin Nabin.

Besides the BJP President, Lamichhane is also scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishanker, among other leaders.

"We will announce details about the visit on Monday," Jha said.

In recent years, the BJP has been prioritising party-to-party relations besides state-to-state bilateral relations. In the past years, leaders of Nepal's political parties also visited New Delhi at the invitation of the BJP.

However, neither side has made an announcement about this visit of Lamichhane.

RSP, which secured nearly two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives, the lower house, is now running the first "Gen-Z backed" government in Nepal's history.

Several RSP leaders said that a visit by the chief of the ruling party to the neighbouring country should be viewed as a natural development.

Lamichhane's planned visit comes against a backdrop of apparently growing friction between Kathmandu and New Delhi, with tensions appearing to build over several actions taken by the two countries in recent weeks.

Nepal strongly protested and sent notes of dissent to both India and China following the two neighbours' announcement in early May that Indian pilgrims would visit Kailash Mansarovar via the disputed Lipulekh region without Nepal's approval. Both Nepal and India claim sovereignty over the Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura regions, which are currently under India's effective control.

India has also indirectly expressed concerns over Nepal's strict enforcement of customs duties on goods worth more than Rs 100 brought into Nepal from India. Although the rule is not new, its stricter implementation affected businesses across the border that rely heavily on Nepali customers, prompting sporadic protests by Indian traders.

The Nepalese government argued that the move was intended to curb smuggling. Following an interim order from Nepal's Supreme Court, the rule is currently not being enforced.

Meanwhile, India's requirement for mandatory laboratory testing of every shipment of Nepali tea entering India adversely affected Nepal's tea exports.

The Indian government has since amended the rule, requiring such tests only for tea intended for re-export to third countries through India, while exempting tea meant for domestic consumption.

Amid these developments, bilateral relations between the two neighbours appear to be under strain. The abrupt cancellation of Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri's planned visit to Nepal on May 11 further raised concerns about the direction of the relationship.

Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally invited Prime Minister Shah to visit India, he has not shown urgency to do so.

A senior RSP leader said Prime Minister Shah is not keen to undertake a foreign visit until he completes at least 100 days in office.

He was appointed as Nepal's Prime Minister on March 27.

Nepal's Foreign Ministry earlier said that Shah's visit to New Delhi would take place once several pending bilateral issues are discussed at the bureaucratic level and a certain degree of understanding is reached on a number of agenda items so that the visit can be fruitful.

Former Nepali ambassador to India Lok Raj Baral earlier told IANS that it was natural for India to seek good relations with a party that had secured a significant mandate in Nepal.

"The RSP president's visit can provide an opportunity to build political understanding between the two sides, although thorny bilateral issues may remain unresolved," he said.

The border dispute has remained a major irritant in bilateral relations. Overtly nationalistic attitudes have also occasionally affected ties between the two countries. Trade-related issues likewise emerge from time to time as points of contention. Baral said such minor frictions should be viewed as natural between neighbouring countries.

As the RSP is a relatively new political party, having been formed only in 2022, questions remain about how a government led by the party would conduct Nepal's foreign policy.

Prime Minister Shah has repeatedly stated that his government will not deviate from Nepal's long-standing foreign policy traditions. He has indicated that the government will pursue relations with all countries based on the principle of equidistance.

He has not held separate meetings with foreign diplomats, although his ministers have met them individually. Shah has also appeared to maintain strict protocol in meetings with foreign dignitaries. In April, Prime Minister Shah did not meet Sergio Gor, Special Envoy of US President Donald Trump for South and Central Asia and the US Ambassador to India. A week earlier, Samir Paul Kapur, the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, also failed to secure a meeting with the prime minister.

Shah reportedly declined to meet Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri during the latter's expected visit to Nepal on May 11 before the trip was cancelled.

Baral, who also worked as a professor of political science at Tribhuvan University, argued that rigid adherence to protocol and the pursuit of equidistance in foreign relations were misguided approaches.

"Whether to meet foreign dignitaries should be guided by national interest rather than protocol," he said.

"The policy of equidistance may sound appealing in principle, but in practice it is difficult given the scale and complexity of Nepal's multifaceted relationship with India compared to its ties with other countries."

— IANS