Former prime minister and CPN (Unified Socialist) chair Madhav Kumar Nepal said that the country should pursue “the policy of equi-proximity with India and China, not equi-distance as some people say.”

“We are situated between two giant nations and powerful countries are also looking at us,” Nepal said during an interaction with journalists in Kathmandu on Friday. “In such a situation, we have to adopt the policy of equi-proximity so that we can win the confidence of both the neighbours.”

The former prime minister and foreign minister also narrated how he had dealt with India on several issues when he was prime minister back in May 2009 to February 2011.

“By supporting one neighbour, we cannot ignore or hurt another. We should not play cards against each other. So, in this context we have to uphold and pursue the policy of non-alignment. Soon the government will come up with new foreign and security policies,” Nepal said during the interaction.

He also gave some broader context and fundamentals of Nepal’s foreign policy.

Nepal will not join any military alliance and is not part of any security and military bloc, he said, adding that friends can be changed but not neighbours.

“There are some sensitive issues that are related to our both neigbours. India and China have their legitimate security concerns. So we need to convince them that we will not allow any elements detrimental to their security concerns. So we also should pursue the policy of non-alignment,” said Nepal.

The chairman of the ruling coalition partner CPN (Unified Socialist) also gave a long background on how and why his party was formed, what is the present status of the current ruling alliance, what had transpired between him and other ruling party leaders during the power-sharing negotiations, and why his party could not receive the votes as per their expectations.

He even claimed it was him who as prime minister asked the UN Mission in Nepal to pack up although the Nepali Congress, the CPN (Maoist) and his old party, the CPN-UML were opposed to the idea.

The UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) was established on January 23, 2007 to oversee the country’s peace process and was also mandated to monitor the management of arms and armed personnel of the government and the Maoists, among other things.

“The former United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon even telephoned me and asked me not to remove the UN mission in Nepal otherwise there will be a bloodshed in the country, but I resisted,” claimed Nepal.

“I took a bold decision on UNMIN. I want the current prime minister [Pushpa Kamal Dahal] to take similar bold decisions. A prime minister should have clear vision, mission, self confidence and I am hoping that the present prime minister will work towards ending corruption and bad governance and take the country towards development and prosperity,” the former prime minister said.