With relations between India and Nepal plunging to an all-time low, the Congress Wednesday saw an advantage in criticising the ruling BJP for what it termed “a partial failure” of Indian diplomacy.
“Through Congress regimes we have developed, cultivated and nurtured very warm and strategic ties [with Nepal],” said the party’s national spokesman Abhishek Singhvi.
“Warm at the emotional level but strategic at all other levels with all neighbours and Nepal in particular and if we see that being diluted or decapitated, then obviously we are extremely concerned and must express our dismay.”
Since a significant number of people affiliated to Nepal’s Madhesi community--which feels deprived of rights in the country’s newly adopted Constitution— also live on the borders of poll-bound Bihar, Mr. Singhvi spoke cautiously, knowing that any word with a potential to hurt the community can backfire on the Congress during the elections.
