Row Over Nepal PM's Controversial 'India' Remarks Escalates
© Photo : Nepal PM Secretariat
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India and Nepal have shared close cultural, religious, diplomatic, and military ties for decades. But the latest conflict has put a strain on their relations.
The row over comments made by Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda about Indian entrepreneur Sardar Pritam Singh, have escalated during the weekend.
Prachanda said that Singh, who lives in Nepal, lobbied New Delhi about who should be appointed premier of the Himalayan nation
Speaking about the matter in Kathmandu on Friday, former Nepal PM Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli said that New Delhi had nothing to do with the controversy but Prachanda should clarify his stand on Nepal's sovereignty.
"India, being a friendly country, has never said that it would participate in how the government of Nepal is formed. India is well aware that that is against Nepal's sovereignty," Oli told reporters.
Speaking about the matter in Kathmandu on Friday, former Nepal PM Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli said that New Delhi had nothing to do with the controversy but Prachanda should clarify his stand on Nepal's sovereignty.
"India, being a friendly country, has never said that it would participate in how the government of Nepal is formed. India is well aware that that is against Nepal's sovereignty," Oli told reporters.
Oli's statement came in reaction to PM Prachanda's remarks on Indian businessman Singh, who was said to have made Prachanda the premier.
"[Singh] had once made efforts to make me the prime minister," Prachanda said earlier this week.
The Nepalese leader's comments stirred things up in Kathmandu with the opposition halting parliamentary activity and demanding Prachanda's resignation over the issue.
Singh, for his own part, denied that he had held talks with the Indian leadership regarding Prachanda's Nepalese premiership.
"[Singh] had once made efforts to make me the prime minister," Prachanda said earlier this week.
The Nepalese leader's comments stirred things up in Kathmandu with the opposition halting parliamentary activity and demanding Prachanda's resignation over the issue.
Singh, for his own part, denied that he had held talks with the Indian leadership regarding Prachanda's Nepalese premiership.
"I don't know why he is saying this, but I never visited Delhi to make him prime minister," Singh said as he rebutted Prachanda's remarks.
Since the abolition of the monarchy in 2008, Nepal's politics have experienced a prolonged state of unstable governments marked by multi-party coalitions.
Prachanda, who first became Nepal's prime minister in 2008, returned to the country's top post in November 2022 after his political outfit - the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) - forged an alliance with the Communist Party of Nepal, the Rastriya Swatantra Party and Janamat Party.
Since the abolition of the monarchy in 2008, Nepal's politics have experienced a prolonged state of unstable governments marked by multi-party coalitions.
Prachanda, who first became Nepal's prime minister in 2008, returned to the country's top post in November 2022 after his political outfit - the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) - forged an alliance with the Communist Party of Nepal, the Rastriya Swatantra Party and Janamat Party.
