India envoy nominee Pandey faces border, EPG, trade deficit and 'nepo baby' questions

Dr Nischal Nath Pandey, the proposed ambassador to India, has said Prime Minister Balen Shah will visit India soon, though a date has not yet been fixed.

Presenting his action plan at the parliamentary Hearing Committee's meeting at Singha Durbar on Monday, he said hydropower exports should be prioritized to reduce the trade imbalance with India. He also stressed the need to implement a round-the-clock "smart border" concept using drones and technology along the border.

He pointed out that no Nepali ambassador to Delhi has completed a full term since Bhesh Bahadur Thapa returned in 2003.

During the hearing, ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) lawmaker Rajiv Khatri raised a "nepo baby" question, asking whether Pandey was recommended because he is the son of a former minister or on merit. RSP's Madhu Kumar Chaulagain raised the issue of banned Indian currency notes stuck in Nepal awaiting exchange.

CPN-UML lawmaker Prem Dangal raised the issues of reviewing the 1950 treaty, the report of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG), and flooding in the Tarai caused by dams built along the border. Congress lawmaker Anand Prasad Dhungana sought the ambassador's view on the prime minister's remark that Nepal too had encroached on Indian territory, and on the Susta dispute.

Pandey claimed Nepal's diplomacy has never failed and pledged to improve the working style of the embassy in New Delhi.