Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli is trying to do everything to alienate his country from India, former Member of Parliament Karan Singh has said in a personal statement. Dr. Singh, who is also related to the Nepal royals, said Mr. Oli’s claim about Lord Ram’s supposed Nepalese origin was ‘bizarre’.
“This outrageous statement will have hurt the sentiments of a billion Hindus living not only in India and Nepal but around the world. The statement could have been dismissed as the gymnastics of a distorted mind, except that it comes fast on the heels of Oli’s unfortunate unilateral action regarding a territorial dispute with India,” said Dr. Singh, who had in the past served as an envoy of India to Nepal to deal with sensitive issues.
Mr. Oli on Monday had remarked that Ramchandra, the lead protagonist of the epic Ramayana, was born in a village near the border town of Birgunj and had described India's Ayodhya as part of a ‘fake’ Indian narrative. In response, Dr. Singh said the statement showed that Mr. Oli was “trying to do whatever he can, even going to the extent of an absurd statement regarding Ayodhya and Sri Ram, to widen the distance between India and Nepal”.
Dr. Singh described, the current official policy of Nepal as ‘ominous’ and urged the people on both sides to “do whatever possible to recreate the friendly age-old ties between our two countries.” He had earlier argued that the territorial dispute over Kalapani could have been avoided if India had activated diplomatic channels on time.
