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Kamal Thapa objects after Nepal's finance minister says 'anti-India nationalism' is over
Swarnim Wagle told a summit in New Delhi that the era of nationalism defined by hostility to India had ended. The former foreign minister says that undervalues Nepali sentiment and wants the government to explain.
Key points
- Wagle said in New Delhi that nationalism tied to anti-India sentiment is over.
- Former foreign minister Kamal Thapa said the remark undervalued Nepali national sentiment.
- Wagle said Prime Minister Balendra Shah could visit India by the end of 2026.
Kamal Thapa, a former foreign minister of Nepal, has objected to remarks by Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle in New Delhi that the era of “anti-India nationalism” in Nepal is over, and asked the government to explain them.
Wagle was speaking on Friday at a summit in the Indian capital on the theme “A World Between Orders”. “There was a time when nationalism in Nepal was associated with anti-India sentiment. But that era is over,” he said.
He described ties between the neighbours as deep. “The relationship between India and Nepal runs very deep. There are occasional problems, but we remain firmly connected,” he said, adding: “In formal talks and official communications, India has consistently shown itself ready to help.”
“Loyalty, not hostility”
Thapa, writing on social media on Saturday, said the comments undervalued Nepali national sentiment. Nationalism did not depend on opposing any country, he argued, but defending the country’s borders and resisting blockades was a matter of loyalty, not hostility. He asked the government to clarify where it stood.
The remarks touch a raw nerve in Nepali politics. India is Nepal’s largest trading partner, but relations have been strained from time to time over trade, transit, the border and questions of sovereignty.
A visit in the works
Wagle said the new government wants to take relations to a new level and indicated that Prime Minister Balendra Shah could visit India by the end of the year. No date has been fixed, though preliminary work has begun.
He recalled Indian help after the 2015 earthquake and the floods in August, and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called Shah after the floods to offer whatever help Nepal needed. There was no immediate government response to Thapa’s objection.