Nepal Gets a New Constitution, But Here’s Why India is Worried
An ethnic Madhesi man holds a banner that reads Hail Madhesh Hail Madhesi. Black Day, during a protest against the countrys new constitution saying lawmakers ignored their concerns over how state borders should be defined, in Birgunj, Nepal, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015. The new constitution replaces an interim one that was supposed to be in effect for only a couple of years but has governed the nation since 2007. Police said clashes between officers and protesters on Sunday left one demonstrator dead near Birgunj town in southern Nepal.
India has reasons to be perturbed about the volatile situation in Nepal, a country with which India shares an open and contiguous 1751-km-long border. India’s biggest concern is that Madhesis are up in arms against the secular and democratic constitution that Nepal has put into effect on 20 September.
Incidentally, Madhes is a Terai region of southern Nepal that shares its borders with Bihar, the polls-bound eastern Indian state. Any political turbulence and violence in Nepal will inevitably have a direct adverse impact on poll-bound Bihar. This was the primary reason for Indian foreign secretary S Jaishankar dashing to Kathmandu a couple of days ago. Details
