Patna,(BiharTimes): Though the schedule of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Nepal was planned much earlier and it came within a few days of external affairs minister, Sushma Swaraj’s trip to the Himalayan Republic yet he landed in Kathmandu at a very opportune moment, so far the people of the Kosi belt of Bihar are concerned.
The presence of any Indian Prime Minister in Nepal, and that too after 17 long years, somewhat mitigated and moderated the anti-Indian feeling in that country, especially after landslide and subsequent flooding there, which killed at least eight people.
Unlike during the past such occasions when feeling against India would run high this time the Nepalese authorities are behaving a bit responsibly and trying to minimize the destruction on the Indian side, especially for those living in Bihar.
Reports said that they are not too rash in blasting the blockade, which is bound to cause an abrupt rise in the water level of river Kosi. The authorities there are in touch with those of their counterparts in Bihar, the lower riparian Indian state which faces the annual wrath of rivers emanating from Nepal.
Among other things the issue of flood was raised by Narendra Modi on the first day of his two-day tour on August 3. His Nepalese counterpart, Sushil Koirala, said that he understands the pain of the people of Bihar.
Similarly, in India too, especially in Bihar, the blamegame is not on. As in the Nepal the leaders and public opinion-makers are a bit restrained and are talking of unitedly facing the big natural calamity.
Though river waters have always been a bone of contention between both the countries yet in the last few years there was rise in anti-India feeling. The relationship between the two countries was not so cordial largely because of the political turmoil, civil war like situation and palace killing of King Birendra and his wife Queen Ashwariya, by their own son, who also shot himself in May 2001.
Modi has earned goodwill in Nepal by his visit, where he announced a $ one-billion line of credit and said New Delhi was determined to forge a new relationship with Kathmandu.
A visit to Nepal by Indian prime minister may not be a big news for any south Indian state, but the people of lower riparian states, such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, always look with hope that a solution to the annual tragedy called flood would be reached in the meeting between the two prime ministers.
On Sunday the Nepalese prime minister abandoned the protocol to be present at the airport to receive his Indian counterpart.
Like the foreign ministry officials as well as media in New Delhi each and every news in Kathmandu is being monitored keenly by the people of north Bihar as their fate is tied to the rivers originating from that country.
They are just keeping their fingers crossed.