Rabi Lamichhane to Visit India for Two-Day Trip

Kathmandu. Rastriya Swatantra Party President Rabi Lamichhane is going to India on a visit tomorrow (Monday). Lamichhane will make a two-day visit at the invitation of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which leads the Indian government.
A few days ago, government spokesperson and Minister of Education and Sports, Samasmit Pokharel, had informed that RSP President Lamichhane was going to India on his own terms.

He had clarified that there was no connection between Prime Minister Balendra Shah (Balen) and President Lamichhane's visit to India.

While Prime Minister Balen was preparing to visit India, it was suddenly postponed, but now the president of the party to which the Prime Minister belongs is going to visit India. Regarding this, foreign affairs experts say that President Lamichhane's visit to India is for 'damage control'. Their understanding is that Nepal's relations with India have recently become cold, and Lamichhane is going to improve them.
Pramod Jaiswal, an expert on Nepal-India-China affairs and Research Director at the Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement, says that President Lamichhane's visit to India will help improve the strained relations between the two countries due to Prime Minister Balen.

'Lamichhane was invited to visit India by the BJP a long time ago,' Jaiswal says, 'but it was delayed due to a mismatch in appointment time with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.' However, he said that President Lamichhane will now meet with Modi.

Although President Lamichhane's visit to India can be considered important, he believes that not everything will be resolved there.

Message from Balen's Statement

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Balen, who suddenly participated in a question-and-answer session in the House of Representatives meeting on Sunday, said that he and his party will focus on good governance for one year. It can be understood from his statement that there will be no visits to any country during this period. However, to maintain the tradition with India, Prime Minister Balen wants to visit India. In such a situation, it is expected that President Lamichhane's visit to India will help improve those relations.

Indian Prime Minister Modi had invited Prime Minister Balen to visit India. He had sent his Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to Nepal to formally extend the invitation, but Prime Minister Balen did not give him time, and the visit was postponed at the last moment.

India has taken this incident seriously. An Indian foreign affairs expert familiar with Nepal-India relations says, 'Misri was not only the Foreign Secretary but also visited Nepal as Prime Minister Modi's envoy. Balen Shah ignoring him is like insulting Modi.' He said that India has taken this very seriously and it is President Lamichhane's job to sort out all these issues.

This is the first high-level visit from India after the formation of this government. That is, President Lamichhane's visit shows that he does not want to spoil any kind of relationship with India.
Regarding this, Professor SD Muni, an expert on Nepal affairs, says, 'There was some coldness in the relationship with India due to Prime Minister Balen, and President Lamichhane can warm it up.'

The president of the party leading a government with a nearly two-thirds majority visiting India is like representing the government, Muni says. 'India is also looking forward to Rabi's visit,' he said.

Foreign affairs expert Jaiswal adds, 'This is the first visit from Nepal's side. No serious issues will be discussed during this visit; it will be about understanding each other, an attempt to find dimensions for improving relations, and discussions on the agenda may take place during another upcoming visit.'

Relations between the two countries have become cold due to the Nepal-India border dispute. When KP Sharma Oli was the Prime Minister, Nepal's map was revised to include Lipulek, Limpiyadhura, and Kalapani, which angered India. For this reason, Oli could not even visit India in the latter part of his tenure.

However, this issue has been reiterated even after Balen became Prime Minister. India and China have agreed to trade via Lipulek and also travel to Mansarovar. Nepal has made it clear that its land cannot be used by other countries.

India also responded to Nepal's statement.

Responding to the questions of the MPs in the House of Representatives meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister Balen said that the dispute over Lipulek, Limpiyadhura, and Kalapani will be resolved through diplomatic dialogue and that discussions are also being held with the United Kingdom for this purpose.

Nepal is preparing to discuss with the United Kingdom the border agreements made when Britain, which ruled India, was leaving. The Prime Minister said in parliament that discussions are being held with the United Kingdom about how much land was where.

Responding to the diplomatic note sent by Nepal, India has also stated that it wants to resolve border disputes that have occurred at various times through diplomatic dialogue. Prime Minister Balen has also expressed the view that it should be resolved through dialogue.

This has made President Lamichhane's visit to India easier, say experts. During the visit, President Lamichhane is scheduled to meet with Indian Prime Minister Modi, Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, BJP President, and others. According to RSP sources, party joint general secretary Bipin Kumar Acharya and secretariat member Deepakraj Bohara will also accompany the president.