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By Our Reporter

A few days after his return from China, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said that he was visiting the southern neighbour soon.

Speaking after the inauguration of Damak View Tower in his constituency in Damak, Jhapa, on December 8, the Prime Minister said that his visit to China was a success and his next visit would be India.

However, it is still uncertain whether India will invite Oli because he has been trying to pay a visit to India immediately after his appointment as the Prime Minister of the coalition government of Nepali Congress and CPN-UML. But, India has not shown any interest in welcoming Oli to New Delhi.

Obviously, when Oli’s attempt to receive an invitation from India failed, he flew to Beijing this month. The diplomatic efforts made right from his appointment as the new PM in Kathmandu in July to his New York trip in September to address the UN General Assembly to receive an invitation from his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to pay a visit to India yielded no result. Although PM Oli managed to meet Indian Prime Minister Modi in the sideline of the UNGA, his hope of getting an invitation was dashed, which prompted him to begin a process to visit China.

Of course, India had not expected Oli’s ascent to power in Nepal this time. When the Nepali Congress and the UML, in a dramatic political development, decided to form their coalition government under Oli in July this year, India was under pressure to prevent Oli from becoming Nepal’s Prime Minister, and it applied every measure to stop Oli’s appointment. However, when Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba ignored the Indian pressure and supported Oli, the Indian attempt failed.

Ever since the publication of the new map of Nepal in 2020 and its approval by the House, India has not been happy with Oli, as such India first tried to stop Oli from becoming PM, and when the mission failed, India may not invite him.

However, when Nepal signed the BRI framework deal during Oli’s recent visit to China, India was under pressure to increase its support to Nepal as India always fears China’s dominant presence in Nepal in any manifestation. As such, there is a slim chance for Oli to get an invitation from India. Otherwise, Oli may not be able to visit India shortly.   

Meanwhile, Oli has used different back-door channels to get an invitation to visit India and normalize his bitter relations with the leaders of the BJP government. Oli had sent Minister Damodar Pandeyto India to convince the BJP leaders for the visit. Accordingly, Foreign Minister Dr Arzu Rana is also returning home from her Europe visit via Delhi. Oli is thus hopeful that he will get an invitation to visit India.