The South Asian stalemate

October 7, 2024

KATHMANDU – Last month, the Nepal Rastra Bank announced that it will not circulate new currency notes before the Dashain celebrations this year. Although the decision has understandably dampened public mood during the festive season, it has probably avoided unnecessary irritation in Nepal’s strained relations with its southern neighbour.

A few months before being ousted from power, the Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s cabinet had instructed the central bank to publish Nepal’s new political map in its currency notes. It is interesting that the new government, which has decided to sit on the decision, is led by CPN-UML leader KP Sharma Oli, who had led the constitutional amendment to include the disputed Kalapani region (extending to Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura) in Nepal’s new political map.

Much has changed since Oli’s aggressive posturing in 2020, which created tensions between Kathmandu and New Delhi. Nepali Congress, which had protested the decision but remained helpless in stopping the two-third majority communist government from amending the constitution, is now a coalition partner in the Oli government.

It is pointless to discuss why Prime Minister Oli, in his earlier capacity, overzealously exercised brinksmanship, which he is now trying hard to play down. It is also pointless to speculate why the Nepali Congress, despite protesting against Oli’s unilateral move, ultimately gave into the diktat of the two-third majority communist government during the parliament voting. That’s just politics, and parties act in their own interest. What should be of interest at this point is: Why is Comrade Oli going back on his brinksmanship? We need to zoom out and look at the goings-on in the region for an