Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's visit to the BJP headquarters during his last week visit to New Delhi is unique in more ways than one. For a sitting head of government to call on the president of a political party at that party's headquarters is extremely rare, especially when the links between the Nepali Congress and the Indian National Congress (INC) and socialist parties in India have been deeper rather than the BJP.
In fact, the Nepali Congress, to which Mr. Deuba belongs, is the fraternal party of the INC, and the deep friendship between politicians from Nepal, especially those who studied in Indian universities, with Indian politicians from the socialist persuasion has been an important part of the India-Nepal relations.
For the BJP to be embraced in this manner by the Nepali Congress and other political groups, in various degrees of warmth, is, therefore, seems to be a pragmatic move on the part of both the ruling party in India and the parties of Nepal.
