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Kathmandu,Sunday May 07, 2000 Baishakh 25, 2057.
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Bastola leaving for Delhi today
Refugee issue to top agenda
By a Post Reporter
KATHMANDU, May 6 - Foreign Minister Chakra Prasad
Bastola leaves for a two-day visit to India tomorrow, the first by a senior Nepali
official since the Christmas-eve hijacking of the Indian Airlines (IA) flight and the
subsequent closure of IA’s Nepal operation.
Officials from both sides have held several rounds
of talks to resume the flights but have failed to come to a conclusive outcome. IA
operation and Bhutanese refugee problem, among others, could feature in the bilateral
talks, said analysts.
Despite Nepal’s repeated requests, India has
refused to get involved in the refugee talks, saying that it is very much a bilateral
issue to be sorted out by Nepal and Bhutan.
Sadako Ogata, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, is
currently in New Delhi after a week-long visit to Nepal and Bhutan. Some Bhutanese refugee
leaders claim Ogata has asked New Delhi to give refuge to one-third of the Bhutanese
refugees while Nepal and Bhutan will split the remainder.
Earlier in an interview with Kantipur FM, Bastola
today discussed the Bhutanese refugee problem at length. "Given our unnatural
relations (with Bhutan) and bitter experiences over the past one decade, I am not fully
convinced (of substantial progress in the talks)," he said.
Bhutan and Nepal are scheduled to meet within a
month to begin the ninth round of ministerial level talks.
During the visit Bastola and his counterpart
Jaswant Singh will undertake a comprehensive review of bilateral relations and discuss
other matters of mutual interest, according to Foreign Ministry. "Bastola’s
visit is a continuation of the dialogue at the political level between Nepal and
India."
The two met on the sidelines of the Non-aligned
foreign ministers conference last month.
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