Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has clarified that not participating in the Boao Forum for Asia in March-end in China was not Nepal’s decision. Responding to a question on Tuesday at the National Assembly, the prime minister said it was Chinese Ambassador Chen Song who had advised him not to participate in the forum owing to a difficult political situation in Kathmandu.

Some sections of the intelligentsia have been questioning why Dahal skipped the Boao Forum and waited for a visit to India. “I thanked the Chinese ambassador for the advice,” said Dahal. “Then I skipped the event.”

Nepal’s Ambassador to China Bishnu Pukar Shrestha represented Nepal at the Boao Forum.

“The Chinese ambassador, after sensing the evolving political situation in Kathmandu including presidential elections and shifting alliances, advised me to postpone the China visit,” Dahal told Parliament. “I thanked him for understanding my compulsion. So there is no reason for me to cancel the visit or skip the Boao Forum.”

Dahal is all set to embark on a four-day official visit to India starting from May 29. Matters related to the visit have been raised in the federal parliament. It has been almost customary for Nepal’s prime minister to make India his first port of call. In 2008, Dahal broke the tradition by first visiting China for the Beijing Olympics inauguration but then troubles followed for Dahal and people linked them to his visit decision.

Dahal now says that there is no rule to dictate where a Nepali prime minister should go first. Observers cite the open border, trade, commerce, and people-to-people contact between Nepal and India to say the southern neighbour weighs heavier than the one to the north in the scale of Nepal’s strategic importance.

On Tuesday, Dahal confirmed the notion saying that due to geographical, economic and frontier situations, the India visit matters.

“There is no constitutional and legal compulsion to visit India or China first,” Dahal clarified. He said that the government would take diplomatic initiatives to resolve the boundary dispute with India. “There is no confusion that Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura are parts of the Nepali territory,” Dahal added.

During the discussion in the National Assembly on the policies and programmes of the government, Dahal answered queries of lawmakers regarding the boundary dispute with India. Dahal said that his government had made no foreign policy departure.

He stressed the need for all political parties to build consensus on foreign policy. The government would strengthen its external relations by keeping national interest at the core, he said. “We have to conduct our relations with friendly countries on the basis of sovereign equality, mutual benefit and respect. The government is committed to defending Nepal’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and national independence.”

He added the government would rely on historical evidence to resolve the boundary dispute with India. “The government is committed to resolving the outstanding boundary issue through diplomatic talks and on the basis of historical treaties related to the border and boundary, maps, facts and evidence,” the prime minister said.