NEW DELHI: Nepal’s new government may not last even though it has brought together the communist flock under one tent. In this conversation on The Gist, Maj. Gen. Binoj Basnyat, a retired Nepal Army officer currently strategic analyst with Thailand’s Rangsit University, believes that it may not be long before Prime Minister Prachanda finds the rug pulled from under his feet. Clearly, the personal ambitions of leaders like former prime minister K P Sharma Oli, may take precedence over ‘Red Unity’, but Gen. Basnyat suspects Oli may surprise by winning over cadres from Prachanda’s Maoist party to his CPN (UML). This does not augur well for Nepal’s political stability, and less so for its economy, which has seen little investment and is heavily dependent on remittances from Nepalis working abroad. There are implications also for Nepal’s relations with China, that could go forward. India may play the waiting game, preferring that its projects in Nepal do the talking. But Delhi will not rest easy given the pro-China orientation of the government. Tune in for more in this conversation with Maj. Gen. Binoj Basnyat.
