Patna, April 26 : The outcome of Nepal's elections was a mandate for stregthening its ties with India, senior Nepalese Maoist leader Hisila Yami said here Saturday.
“We the Nepalese have to get over the hangover of Cold War days whereby Nepal was considered a buffer zone between India and China by past Nepalese rulers. Instead, now we have to adopt an active bridge between the two countries to gain from the economic development of both sides,” said Yami.
Yami, a graduate of the School of Planning and Architecture and minister for physical planning and works in the outgoing government, is the first senior Maoist leader to visit India after the former guerrillas emerged victorious in the constituent assembly polls.
She is leading a 45-member delegation from Nepal for a two-day seminar on “Emerging Trends in India-Nepal Relations” in this Bihar capital Saturday.
Yami said the mandate was also for peace and change. "It is a mandate for restructuring the feudal state into a federal democratic republic state. It is also a mandate for a new Nepal, a new model of peace in the world."
"We are observing in order to learn lessons from India so as to build a new Nepal and new Nepal-India relations possible," said Yami, a politburo member the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and wife of senior Maoist leader Babruram Bhattarai.
"We are keenly observing the kind of federalism India is operating on. We are also keenly watching the kind of reverse migration that is taking place in India. We are interested in knowing the dialectical relationship between the competitive multi-party system and competitive economic models that are operating in India," she said.
In this competitive globalised world, it is in every country's interest, particularly India's, to see Nepal developing not only competitive multi-party democracy but also competitive economic models, according to her.
"I would like to emphasise that people on both sides of the border, especially in reference to Bihar that shares about 700 km of open border, would benefit from this approach, particularly in the area of flood control measures," she said. “We want the open border between Nepal and India be managed effectively and controlled."
She said this was the first time in Nepalese history that the people were writing their own constitution. "I thank India for providing all possible support including the sealing of border during the election time and preventing untoward incidences," she said.
Yami noted India was one of the first countries to welcome the Nepali people's mandate.
The seminar, organised by the external affairs ministry's public diplomacy division with the government of Bihar, was inaugurated by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Minister of State for Commerce and Power Jairam Ramesh, former foreign secretary Shyam Saran and Nepal's ambassador to India Durgesh Mansingh are among the participants.
(IANS)