He told ET that the election, which swept rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah’s four-year-old Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) to power with a landslide victory, offered an opportunity to improve relations with India after a lean phase over the past few years as well as boost Nepal’s economy through new initiatives including in energy, tourism and IT sectors.
“We have good relations, apart from certain disputes-which always happen among neighbours. We do not have insurmountable issues, but because of lack of vision or commitment or shortsightedness or political leadership, relations were not picking up in the last three years,” Bhattarai said. “This huge break in politics in Nepal should be a good opportunity to revisit again and improve our relations on both sides, from both sides.”
Reflecting on the election results, he said, “There was simmering discontent mounting over the years after we completed the democratic revolution and promulgated the constitution of democratic republic in 2015 The old political leadership failed to deliver and rather indulged in corruption and also malpractices.”
Asked whether the RSP was tipped to win such a massive mandate, the former PM said he expected it to emerge as the single largest party.
Nepali politics will no longer remain the same, he said, adding, “That should be an opportunity for you then, make a new beginning without any sort of prejudices. So, this is what I have suggested to my friends, whomsoever I met so far in Delhi. I hope both sides will make a new beginning.”
Stressing that foreign relations should not be a partisan issue, Bhattarai said, “State to state relations between Nepal and India should enjoy some sort of stability because for both sides, a peaceful, developed neighbour would be in each other’s interest.”He further said, “Nepal, being smaller and lagging in development index, should gain more with a cordial relationship with the neighbour… with the new geopolitical dynamics in the region and the whole change in the beginning of the 21st century in this region and the talk of Asian century, it should be good opportunity for India also to reach out to all the neighbours and prepare for the new Asian Century.”