New Delhi: The CPI(M) has said that it supports the demand of Nepal's Maoist Chief, Prachanda for scrapping the 1950 India-Nepal Peace and Friendship Treaty.
Speaking in Kolkata on Tuesday, CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat said the pact should be renegotiated.
"That is a demand which has to be considered. Our party had also earlier, once this Indo-Nepal treaty was reviewed, had a detailed position on this. We have always said that just because one country is bigger than the other does not mean that treaties should be unequal. There should be equal relations," he said.
"If there are any areas in the Indo-Nepal treaty which need to be renegotiated, it should be done," he further stated.
The incoming Maoists-led government in Nepal plans to scrap the 58-year-old Indo-Nepal Peace and Friendship Treaty and have a fresh pact reflecting new realties besides reviewing all other bilateral agreements.
"Our past policy towards the 1950 treaty remains unchanged, we want to scrap that treaty and replace it with a new one in the changed context," Prachanda had said on Friday.
"We also want to review all other treaties signed between Nepal and India," he had added.
During the poll campaign, the Maoists said the treaty was ‘unequal’ which needed to be abrogated, a demand, which was also made in the Himalayan nation eight years back.
Under the treaty, people living in both countries could freely travel across the border for employment and reside in either place. There is a termination clause in the treaty and Nepal can do away with the pact, which is basically meant to address India's security needs, if it is uncomfortable.
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