India willing to review 1950 Treaty: Menon

Indian foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon has said that India is willing to review the 1950 Treat of Peace and Friendship between Nepal and India, according to reports in Indian media.

Menon made the remarks in New Delhi, Tuesday, on the backdrop of demands for abrogation of the treaty made by Maoist chairman Prachanda, who is preparing to lead the next government following the emergence of his party as single largest party from the recent elections.

``They have spoken about replacing it or changing it in order to bring the relationship to a new and higher level. We will be happy to work with Nepal to that aim,'' Menon told reporters.

Prachanda has also said that he wants review of all other 'unequal' agreements with India.

Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), a key supporter of the ruling coalition in New Delhi, on Tuesday backed the demand for renegotiation of the 1950 Treaty and said there should be no treaty which is unequal.
If there were any areas in the Indo-Nepal Peace and Friendship Treaty which needed to be re-negotiated it should be done, CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said, according to Press Trust of India.

"Yes, I think that demand has to be considered. Earlier also when the Indo-Nepal treaty was reviewed we had a detailed position," he told a press conference after the party's politburo meeting.

"We have always said that big countries or small countries, it does not mean we should have treaty which will be unequal," he said.

Furthermore, noting that re-negotiating the Indo-Nepal Peace and Friendship Treaty should not be difficult, former National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra – who held that position during the rule of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - has said the new agreement would also be based on reciprocity, with both sides gaining from it.

"I don't think it should be difficult at all. We have never said that Nepal is not a sovereign, independent country. It has its own requirements. We have our own requirements. Obviously, the new treaty will also be based on reciprocity," Mishra said in an interview with Karan Thapar on the CNBC 18 program `India Tonight'.

Observing that both countries would gain from it, he said, "I don't consider the abrogation or renegotiation of the treaty as a disaster for India. It's not," Mishra said.

"We should take advantage of a re-negotiation to improve the conditions of our people and Nepal about which we have had lots of problems in the past," he said.

To a question on whether the victory of the Maoists posted a threat to India, he said he did not think it was a cause of threat or concern, but added that the new situation would require a great deal of reappraisal between the relations of the two countries.

He, however, added: "Fundamentally, the relationship between the two countries is not going to alter. There may be some reservations on the part of the new government about certain aspects of the relationship. But it is not going to turn inimical," Mishra said. nepalnews.com sd Apr 30 08