Indian envoy to Nepal Ranjit Rae on Monday briefed the government on the latest situation in that country after it adopted its new fully secular and democratic Constitution amid violent protests in several parts of Nepal along the Indian border.
Rae, who had spoken to the Nepalese prime minister on Sunday to convey India's concerns over the violent situation in several parts of the country bordering it, was called for "consultations" in New Delhi, official sources said.
India has also told Nepal that issues on which there are differences should be "resolved through dialogue in an atmosphere free from violence and intimidation, and institutionalised in a manner that would enable broad-based ownership and acceptance".
The Indian envoy will be returning to Nepal on Tuesday, the sources said when asked if Rae was called back to express India's unhappiness after repeated advise from New Delhi to postpone the promulgation of the Constitution until it could be more acceptable to a greater number of people in Nepal, including minorities.
Significantly, MEA also issued a release saying, "We are deeply concerned over the incidents of violence resulting in death and injury in regions of Nepal bordering India following the promulgation of Constitution yesterday...
"We had repeatedly cautioned the political leadership of Nepal to take urgent steps to defuse the tension in these regions. This, if done in a timely manner, could have avoided these serious developments," and hoped that initiatives will be taken by Nepal's leadership to effectively and credibly address the causes underlying the present state of confrontation.
Noting that Indian freight companies and transporters have also voiced complaints about the difficulties they are facing in movement within Nepal and their security concerns, due to the prevailing unrest, the ministry added that "We have consistently argued that all sections of Nepal must reach a consensus on the political challenges confronting them.
"The issues facing Nepal are political in nature and cannot be resolved through force."
Meanwhile, Nepalese ambassador to India Deep Kumar Upadhyay maintained that the Constitution takes care of the Hindu sentiments. "Nepal is ethnically diverse, so not possible to make everyone happy... Not only in Terai, there is some kind of reservation, some kind of unhappiness in the mountain region also."
However, he asserted that "our national animal is still the cow. So, all Hindu sentiments will be covered, it will be covered in the acts (of the Constitution). These kinds of arrangements have been made. People should examine."
Concerned over the violence, India had also sent Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar to Nepal last week for consultations with the country's top leadership ahead of promulgation of the new Constitution.
Giving details of various incidents of violence, sources said three persons were injured in Mahabir Chowk in Biratnagar in police firing and NC MP Radhechandra Yadav's house in Kalaiya (Bardia district) was attacked.
They also said that one of the three injured in police firing in Biratnagar later died apart from dozens who were injured in clashes with police in Kailali.
Image: Hindu activists march forward while trying to break through a restricted area near the parliament during a protest rally demanding Nepal to be declared as a Hindu state in the new constitution, in Kathmandu, Nepal. Photograph: Navesh Chitrakar/ Reuters
