Sushil Koirala was first PM to support Indian bid for permanent UNSC berth

Sujit Mainali / August 31, 2017

Photo: youtube.com/KantipurTV

Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and a leader of Nepal Loktantrik Forum Jitendra Narayan Dev said the following in the talk show ‘Fire Side’ aired on Kantipur TV on August 28, 2017:

“When we were in India [during Prime Minister Deuba’s recent visit], a section of Nepal-based communications media reported that this time Nepal agreed to support India’s bid for a permanent membership of the UN Security Council [UNSC]. Yes Nepal did agree to support the Indian bid. They lack institutional memory; those who wrote that Sher Bahadur did an unprecedented thing, something which should not have been done, and the politicians and parties who repeat such things forget that it was Madhav Nepal, who during his India visit as prime minister in 2004 had first agreed to support the Indian bid.”

Minister Dev made the comment while remarking on Nepal-India joint statement issued during Deuba’s recent visit to India.

South Asia Check has examined whether Madhav Kumar Nepal had agreed to support India’s bid for permanent membership of the UNSC or not.

CPN-UML leader Madhav Nepal had visited India as prime minister in 2009, not in 2004. But the joint statement issued during the visit has no mention of Nepal agreeing to support the Indian bid for permanent membership of the UNSC.

Therefore, Minister Dev’s claim is wrong.

Also, there is no mention of Madhav Nepal’s successors Baburam Bhattarai and Khila Raj Regmi agreeing to support the Indian bid for permanent membership of the UNSC.

After Khila Raj Regmi, Nepali Congress President Sushil Koirala became the new prime minister. During his prime ministership, India succeeded in garnering Nepal’s support for its bid for UNSC’s permanent membership.

While addressing the UN General Assembly on September 26, 2014, Koirala said, “Nepal reiterates its support to the desire of India, Japan, Germany and Brazil to serve as permanent members in the expanded Security Council.” (Read point number 40)

After Sushil Koirala, KP Oli visited India as a prime minister, but no joint statement was issued during the visit. After Oli, Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Sher Bahadur Deuba visited India as prime ministers and the joint statements issued during both the visits have reiterated Nepal’s support for the Indian bid for permanent membership of the UNSC.

Note: Before 2006 peoples’ uprising, India had failed to convince Nepal to support its bid for permanent UNSC membership. Click here for details.

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