Saffronisation of Dahal’s diplomacy

The India visit has opened up prospects for the integration of Nepali and Indian economies.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal tangibly exuded a sense of achievement and content upon landing at Kathmandu airport on Saturday after completing a four-day official visit to India. Even before embarking on the trip, he seemed to have decided to be pragmatic and focus on economic issues instead of getting entangled in drawn out issues like the Kalapani-Limpiyadhura border dispute. His single political objective was to win the “personal” confidence of his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. However, it was difficult to decipher whether his smugness was due to having clinched critical economic deals or projected his new avatar as a conservative Hindu venerating Lord Shiva on camera. Both these facets have their own ramifications in national politics.