A Plan for Nepal

The recent visit of Nepal’s ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) chief Rabi Lamichhane was significant as the leader is seen as the power behind the new government. An old case has hampered Lamichhane from holding office and while rapper-turned-politician Balendra ‘Balen’ Shah is prime minister, the real power centre is the RSP chief. His engagements in India reflected the importance the Modi government accorded him as he met BJP President Nitin Nabin. RSP has a strong majority of 182 seats in the House of Representatives, which has a strength of 275. Despite a few faux pas by Balen, attributable to his inexperience, India believes it can turn the chapter with Nepal with the ignominious exit of a Communist-Nepali Congress government led by KP Sharma Oli.

Lamichhane was received with due honours and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The efforts are beginning to be felt with Nepal and India jointly examining a case of a possibly unintentional intrusion by Nepalese herders into Indian territory. India has gone ahead with a customs and immigration post at Lipulekh—a point of discord which became a flashpoint when Oli was in office. The new government, too, objected to the Lipulekh passage for Mansarovar pilgrims but it does appear the two sides are working to contain differences. Lamichhane, who held US citizenship for a while, impressed his interlocutors with his pragmatic approach and preparedness to move the needle on areas of mutual benefit like developing hydropower, tourism, and trade. Modi personally monitored his engagements.

Testing Times

An incident in Bengaluru, whereby a few students missed the NEET re-test apparently due to congestion caused by a Congress rally, has taken a curious turn. Some Congress leaders criticised the authorities for not letting the students appear for the test, arguing that ‘small’ delays are condonable. However, Karnataka Home and IT Minister Priyank Kharge said one student came from an area unaffected by the rally and another had an old admit card. Test takers should have reached the venue between the entry time of 11AM to 1.30PM, he said.

Securing the Bangladesh Border

Amid reports of Border Guard Bangladesh and some Bangladeshi citizens ‘resisting’ the border fencing work by the Border Security Force (BSF), it has been made clear there will be no slackness in the rollout of a measure that was stalled by former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Home Minister Amit Shah has a very clear view on the matter—there is no question of anyone ‘resisting’ fencing land on the Indian side of the border now that a BJP government is in office in Kolkata.

Candid Trump

US President Donald Trump’s effusive praise for Prime Minister Modi took commentators by surprise. His comments go well beyond what might be seen as mere cordiality and cannot be dismissed as lighthearted either. His remark that the “real Modi is a tough cookie” after the two leaders met at évian indicates the American leader might be in need of a friend or two when he is struggling to end the iran war. Although Trump may continue to refer to the Pakistan army chief as his “favourite” field marshal, sealing the bilateral trade deal with India is important too. Thus, Trump was just as cordial during the private meeting with Modi as he was before the media.

Takaichi in Delhi

One country with which India’s relations have progressed is Japan. Beginning with Prime Minister Modi’s rapport with the late Shinzo Abe, the confluence of interests is remarkable. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, seen as a worthy successor of Abe, will visit India in early July, and Delhi is the venue of the India-Japan summit rather than Guwahati as considered earlier. Japanese businesses accompanying Takaichi do, however, have an eye on the Northeast.

Bahá’i Trauma

People of the Bahá’i faith living in Iran have continuously suffered under the hardline rule of the Iranian clergy. The outbreak of the recent war made matters even worse for this micro-minority. At least three Bahá’i women, one an expectant mother, have been picked up and jailed amid a fresh crackdown, according to the Bahá’i International Community. Almost 80 Bahá’ís have faced detention, arrest, and imprisonment since the February outbreak of war. More than 400 recent cases of statesponsored human rights abuses against the Bahá’í across Iran, including arrests, detentions, and violent home raids have been reported.

Bengal’s Babus

The decision of the new West Bengal government, announced in its first budget, to raise the Dearness Allowance (DA) of government employees by 20 per cent in one stroke won the immediate appreciation of thousands of employees who had been griping at the previous Trinamool government’s delays on the matter. The increases in DA were put off on grounds of a difficult fiscal situation but the BJP government indicated where its priorities lay by pruning the allocations for the minority department, which was a political focus area for the Trinamool Congress.