At a time when Chinese interference in Nepal’s domestic affairs has reached an all-time high with the Chinese Communist dispatching a high-level delegation to unify the warring factions of PM Oli and Pushpa Kumar Dahal ‘Prachanda’, the latter has now sought India’s help for the restoration of democracy in Nepal.
Prachanda, fresh after meeting a high-level Chinese delegation, gave an interview to a TV channel where he stated that India has always been a supporter of Nepal’s democratic movement as he urged India, Europe and the USA to prevent the partition of the Nepal Communist Party after PM Oli’s shock move to dissolve the parliament and call for fresh elections. However, Prachanda was displeased with India’s silence over Oli’s move which he labelled it as ‘undemocratic’.
This is a significant development as China was increasingly seeing Oli as a lost cause who after flirting with Xi Jinping and the CCP has suddenly realised the pitfalls of being in bed with China and hence has not only engaged with India and ensured that the bilateral relations between Nepal and India are on the uptick, but also shocked China with his move to dissolve the parliament, thereby laying waste to years of Chinese efforts led by China’s Ambassador to Nepal, Hou Yanqi to keep the NCP unified.
Prachanda was China’s only hope and his move to urge India to help restore normalcy in Nepal presents a colossal failure of the Chinese delegation and can also be read as a sign of help to counter the rapid Chinese interference in Nepal’s domestic affairs.
Xi perhaps livid with Nepal slipping from his iron grip, dispatched Guo Yezhou, vice-minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China to Nepal to engage with the NCP leaders including Oli and Prachanda in a last-ditch attempt to keep the party unified.
While Guo and his four-member team along with Hou Yanqi went door to door to plead with every NCP leader worth their salt, the realisation has perhaps dawned on the delegation that their dreams of seeing unified NCP are all but over. Hence, the delegation has now held meetings with opposition Nepal Congress in a bid to avoid returning empty-handed.
It is being reported that when the Chinese delegation met PM Oli with a clear message to revoke his decision to dissolve the parliament. “Experts in Nepal believe that the CCP’s attitude during the meeting was clear – PM Oli’s government should withdraw its decision, and in return, they will have special support from the CCP to crush the opposition and thus, complete their five-year term,” said a Hindustan Times report.
However, PM Oli also stood firm on his decision that only the Supreme Court will decide the future of Nepal, and not any other country will be given the powers to dictate Nepal’s sovereign issues.
Prachanda’s move to invite India to restore normalcy in Nepal, effectively means that Xi Jinping and the CCP have lost the battle in the Himalayan country.