Nepal should not back India’s plan to corner Pakistan: Oli

By Anil Giri

Kathmandu, Feb 16 (IANS) Nepal's former Prime Minister and Chairman of CPN-UML K.P. Oli on Thursday said India is trying to corner Pakistan and Nepal should not support the move.

While opposing India's alleged strategy to corner Pakistan, he said some sub-regional forums are working to ensure fruition of India's anti-Pakistan scheme.

Presenting a political document at the party's politburo meeting here, he claimed: "India's strategy is clear -- corner Pakistan.

"In the backdrop of the postponement of Saarc summit and India's entry to other regional and sub-regional forums like BIMSTEC and BBIN, it is clear that India wants to corner Pakistan, but Nepal should not support such move."

The sub-regional platforms like the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) and the BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal Initiative) are going to be the tools for fulfilling India's interest, he said in his 10-page political document.

Oli, who became Prime Minister in October 2015 following promulgation of the new constitution and faced economic blockade along the Nepal-India border by Madhes-based political forces in Nepal, shared very acrimonious relations with New Delhi.

He resigned from the post in August last year blaming India for his fall and has been propagating a "nationalist and rightist" agenda in Nepal.

During his premiership, he had inked the landmark Nepal-China Transit and Transportation Agreement after Nepal-India border remained blocked for almost six months. This has given Beijing a huge leverage to exercise its clout in Kathmandu, which he denies.

"Some sections have been trying to overplay pacts reached with China, claiming that China's clout has increased in Nepal following the pacts related to trade, transit and connectivity, which is not true," he said.

Nepal should opt for an independent foreign policy and not be part or wheel of any power and should promote mutual cooperation and partnership with all friendly nations and neighbours, said the former Prime Minister.

"Regional avenues like Saarc and BIMSTEC may be the tools of powerful nations to fulfil their interests, so we should make all possible efforts to stop them," said Oli in his document.

Efforts are underway to keep Nepal within the clutches of India and make it fully dependent on its southern neighbour, he claimed, adding that "at this juncture, our party UML wants relations with India based on mutual benefit, non-alignment and respect for our sovereignty".

(Anil Giri can be contacted at girianil@gmail.com)

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)