N. P. Upadhyaya, Kathmandu: The India tilted Nepal has offered its mediatory role in ending the seven decades long conflict in between the two neighboring arch rivals-India and Pakistan.

What could be a nice joke than this?

To recall, India and Pakistan behave with each other as enemies of the highest order since the very second day of the partition, 1947.

It is in this light that Nepal, a close ally and almost a protectorate of the Indian establishment ( this is what the general population believe in Kathmandu who even conclude that the present republican order was a gift from the friend across the border in 2005-6), the Nepali offer of mediation be looked upon.

Pakistan is in knowledge how India has been mercilessly twisting the arms and how Nepal is being micro-managed by the Indian Ambassadors posted in Nepal.

Most of the time, it is the Indian intelligence agency-the RAW which directly pokes its nose into the affairs of the Nepalese politics.

The Indian mindset is that since the present day order is a sure shot gift from the country across the border which is what allows the “fake traditional friend” to impose its dictates through its paid agents in Nepal.

To put it modestly, it is India and India alone which would never allow Nepal to emerge as a prosperous nation.

This is what sensible Nepali observers guarantee.

The surprising part of it all is that how Pakistan easily believed that an India tilted Nepal could mediate in between the two arch rivals?

Pakistan is hoping against hope but yet what is the harm in hoping for the better if it is in the pipeline?

Presumably, Pakistan may have thought that Nepal is still a sovereign and independent nation in the lap of the Himalayas whose once practiced non-aligned foreign policy makes it a nation which could easily convince the two warring rivals to patch up their differences for the larger benefit of the South Asian region.

Unbelievable as it may appear but the fact is that the request to Nepal to mediate the India-Pakistan conflict has come from the sitting Prime Minister of India.

High place sources in Nepal say that Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Md. Qureshi talked to his Nepali counterpart Pradip Gyawali and urged him to be of some support in ending the overly stretched India-Pak conflict.

Nepal is ready to “play the role of mediator” and be “instrumental” in bringing India and Pakistan to the table for talks, Nepali government sources said recently but added that “direct talks” were a better solution, writes Devirupa Mitra for the Diplomacy/South Asia, January 25/20120.

“If necessary, we can play the role of mediator, as we are friendly, independent and peace-loving” adds Ms. Devirupa.  In the region, a Nepali high placed source claimed to a select group of Indian media men visiting Kathmandu in the recent days that “we are neutral, impartial and we love truth and facts.”

The fact is that Nepal is not neutral but possesses visible bias for India but yet if Pakistan feels comfortable with Nepal’s mediation-efforts then observers say, “We have nothing to worry”.

However, Nepal at best can advise both the neighbors from the South Asian region to be in direct contact with each other and settle their disputes once and for all.

The other help Nepal can extend to these South Asian warring neighbors is to provide a safe and secured venue in Nepal (preferably Pokhra) and let the two neighbors to express their feelings in a free and frank manner.

Such a meet may bring the two near to enemies together and if that happens then South Asian region will take a sigh of relief.

If Nepal could bring in India and Pakistan together and ease the uncomfortable situation that prevails at the moment in the South Asian region then that would enhance the diplomatic capabilities of this nation.

The approaching Sagarmatha Sambad( the Sagarmatha Dialogue) to be held in Kathmandu in a month or so can be the best venue for both the inimical rivals, India and Pakistan, to initiate their stalled dialogue.

Rumors have it that it could for sure be this Sambad venue in Kathmandu which may being in ear pleasing new for the population of this part of the world.

Nepal definitely needs peace in the SA region and this is only possible when India and Pakistan meet.

Definitely, Kathmandu could be the best venue in the entire world for initiating peace talks.

Welcome India and Pakistan in Kathmandu.

Nepal is the current Chair of the near to dead SAARC. The next Chair of the SAARC is Pakistan if and when the SAARC Summit is held.

Let’s hope that if the leaders of the two South Asian countries meet in Nepal, then Nepal can convince India to give the SAARC body a new lease of life.

It is this SAARC body whose next Summit can clean the tarnished image of India because the world clearly understands that the SAARC has been forced to die an unnatural death by the fundamentalist Hindutwa government led by Prime Minister Modi.

Telegraph adds: India and Pakistan may resume their unfinished talks in Kathmandu once again in New Delhi this July when Pakistan will be attending the special session of the Sanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meet in India.

India and Pakistan will have the third venue in Russia this year itself if they so desire for settling their long standing disputes through talks.

So the venue for India and Pakistan to resolve their political differences is in Nepal, Russia and India itself.

But is there the willingness in PM Modi and Prime Minister Imran Khan to patch up their political divergences for the good of the entire region? That’s all.