NATIONAL 1 (Spotlight Weekly)]

Cool Welcome

Prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala receives cool welcome in India

By A CORRESPONDENT

The initial mood of Indian officials indicated that nothing is going to change their attitude towards a small northern neighbor Nepal. As expected, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala received a low profile welcome in New Delhi with major television channels bypassing the event.

PM Koirala : Surrounded by issues

Main opposition leader Madhav Kumar Nepal expressed doubts even before Koirala's plane took off from Tribhuwan International Airport. "I don't think anything will happen regarding the issues of Laxmanpur barrage," said Nepal addressing the House of Representatives.

Nepal's expectation proved right when Indian side welcomed Koirala in a low key affair. However, Koirala might have realized the mood of India. Even before flying to India, Prime Minister Koirala had urged not to expect too much from the visit. "I am going in a confidence building visit and this visit will help bring the bilateral relations on right track," Prime Minister Koirala told reporters.

Although Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee repeated the rhetoric that India has a long historic relations with Nepal, he has not shown the mood to give any concessions to Nepal. "India always gives great importance to the relations with its neighbor Nepal," Vajpayee said.

"It is the regular way of Indian officials to deal with Nepalese leader. They always want to press psychologically to Nepalese leaders that they must do something to please India," said a former Nepalese diplomat on condition of anonymity. "Koirala has to face tough time talking with Indian leaders."

Unlike Nepalese sides, Indians are well prepared and know the weakness of Nepalese leaders. Just one day before the visit, India Today placed Nepal Game Plan in its web-site.

Last time when Koirala was in New Delhi, the Indian sides changed their stand after one-to-one political talks between the two leaders.

Indian officials are harping just one point agenda about Nepal that has become security threat and are ignoring more important issues like trade. Nepalese side, on the other hand, seemed unprepared on what to speak and what not to.

Fighting Erupts In House

For the first time in the current session, the ruling and opposition party members traded blows amidst heated debate in the House of Representatives, Monday, August 1.

The members of the opposition party UML ignited the brawl after they kicked former Minister of State Mohammad Aftab Alam for allegedly speaking against their General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal.

Alam had resigned just a day earlier from his post after a probe committee found him involved in the case of abduction of one UML district leader of Rautahat Jaya Prakash Kaushal. Alam, however, denied his involvement in the case and was making a speech in the Parliament saying he resigned on moral grounds. Alam said he was never named as culprit in the case filed by Kaushal and expressed surprise to the report.

The restive opposition members manhandled Alam after he allegedly denounced the role of leader of the main opposition Madhav Kumar Nepal. In the resulting fracas, tables were thrown around and the chair of Prime Minister lay uprooted.

"It is the gross violation against the privileges of a member of parliament. Nowhere in the Constitution is it written that MPs are barred to speak about leader of main opposition. This whole incident has put the credibility of the members of the opposition into question," reacted Minister for Information and Communication Jaya Prakash Ananda Gupta.