KATHMANDU: For years, visiting Indian ministers and other dignitaries have been trying to project an image of deep amity with Nepal, reiterating that the two countries share age-old cultural, social and other ties. However, apparently, these vaunted ties do not extend to working together at the UN. Even as India celebrates the victory of its candidate A Gopinathan over his Chinese rival Zhang Yan at Monday's vote for a five-year term at the UN's Joint Inspection Unit, Indian mandarins in Kathmandu have been left unhappy by the fact that Nepal chose to vote against India. Although the Indian embassy in Kathmandu formally requested Nepal's foreign ministry to vote for Gopinathan, Nepal cast its ballot for the Chinese candidate, underscoring the growing Chinese ascendancy over Nepal. Soon after the vote, Nepal's foreign minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha left for China on a seven-day trip to discuss the agenda for a high-level visit in December when Chinese PM Wen Jiabao will arrive in Kathmandu on a three-day official trip, the first such visit by a Chinese premier in 10 years. Wen's visit will be reciprocated by Nepali PM Baburam Bhattarai's official visit to Beijing. Although Bhattarai visited India in October and claimed it had created a climate of trust, the Maoist government in Nepal is following the policy of ousted king Gyanendra's regime that also supported China at multilateral forums over India. Is Nepal's snub at the UN a retaliation to India's snub during Bhattarai's India visit? The India-educated Nepali PM was met at IGI Airport only by India's ambassador to Nepal and the chief of protocol at the MEA whereas two days later, when Bhutan's young king Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk and Queen Jetsun Pema Wangchuk arrived on a nine-day state visit, they were received by MoS for communications and information technology Milind Deora and foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai.
