उक्त सम्झौतापश्चात परराष्ट्रमन्त्री राणा र अमेरिकी उपविदेशमन्त्री बासबीच नेपाल अमेरिका द्विपक्षीय हित र आपसी चासोका विविध विषयमा छलफल भएको थियो । परराष्ट्रमन्त्री राणाले यो सम्झौता नेपाल र अमेरिकाबीचको सम्बन्धमा एक महत्त्वपूर्ण उपलब्धि भएको बताउँदै आगामी दिनमा द्विपक्षीय हितलाई थप प्रवर्धन गर्न यस सम्झौतामार्फत सहयोग पुग्ने धारणा राखिन् ।

साथै यस सम्झौताले दुई देशबीच व्यापार, लगानी, पर्यटन, पूर्वाधार निर्माणलगायतका क्षेत्रमा आपसी सहयोग र समन्वयका साथ अघि बढ्न थप मार्गप्रशस्त गर्ने पनि मन्त्री राणाले बताए ।

I approached Dr Minendra Rijal, former minister, scholar and leader of Nepali Congress who follows global geopolitics as well as Nepal’s relations with India, China and the US.  He says that the thinking that Modi 3.0 is weaker than he was before and Nepal does not need to worry much about Modi returning to power again is simply misplaced. “As far as India’s foreign policy is concerned and as far as its bilateral relation with Nepal is concerned, Modi’s party is no different from Rahul Gandhi’s party,” he said. “They basically say the same thing in their manifesto regarding India’s relations with Nepal.  They do not differ on bilateral relationship agendas.”

Regarding the argument that Modi wanted Nepal as a Hindu state, he says that this is a perception propagated by the Nepali political actors to please the BJP leader. “Has Modi asked us to become a Hindu state? Has he formally pronounced it? Nepali political leaders to please the Indian establishment are proposing things the Indian side might never have asked for.” According to him, most Nepali leaders at the highest echelon are creating this narrative and acting accordingly to curry favor and use New Delhi to promote their personal ambitions. “I have no knowledge of Modi trying to impose Hindutva and his will on Nepal.”

According to him, there is no fundamental difference between the BJP and Indian National Congress vis-à-vis India’s relations with Nepal. “Both parties say the neighborhood is important.  Do they differ on issues related to boundary disputes with Nepal? Congress was in the government until ten years back, was it helpful in resolving the border issues with Nepal amicably?,” he said. “The outstanding issues such as the 1950 treaty, border issues and others have been there for decades and so.  We have faced the governments led by BJP and Congress both. What was the outcome? Have these issues been resolved? Has an Indian government been more facilitative than the other in terms of resolving these outstanding issues with Nepal?”

Rijal says that on one aspect there could be some change on part of Nepali leaders regarding their display of deference to Indian establishment. “Political party leaders here, to be in power, overzealously tried to please the Indian establishment in the past. With the outcome of the elections, political leaders in Nepal will probably be less overzealous in trying to please the Indian establishment. That will probably be one area where we will see change.”