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Nepal takes strong objection to EU-India joint statement

Xinhua, March 31, 2016 Adjust font size:

Nepal on Thursday took strong objection to the reference to the country in the Joint Statement issued after the 13th EU-India summit in Brussels on March 30.

In their joint statement, the European Union and India had mentioned about Nepal's Constitutional issues, urging the country to address the constitution-related issues in a time bound matter.

In the strongly-worded statement, Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has firmly objected the statement, saying that resolving the Constitution-related issues are purely internal affairs of Nepal and no foreign countries should interfere in it.

"The constitution making and its promulgation are essentially internal matters of a country. Nepal has now moved ahead along the path of political stability and economic development. Against this backdrop, the EU-India Joint Statement not only hurts the sentiments of the people of Nepal but also defies the fundamental principle of non-interference in internal affairs of a country in breach of the UN Charter and norms of international law," the ministry said.

The Nepal government also called on India and EU to fully respect the sovereign and democratic rights of the people of Nepal and refrain from making such statements.

"The government and people of Nepal are fully capable of resolving their issues themselves within the framework of the constitution," it said.

The Nepalese government said that serious attention of the government of Nepal was drawn to the reference to Nepal made in the Joint Statement of the 13th EU-India Summit.

"The EU and India pledged continued support to Nepal in its reconstruction efforts following the devastating earthquakes in 2015, including capacity building and long term development," the EU and India joint statement said.

The joint statement also said "They also agreed on the need for a lasting and inclusive constitutional settlement in Nepal that will address the remaining Constitutional issues in a time bound manner, and promote political stability and economic growth".

Earlier, the European Union welcomed the new Constitution of Nepal issued on Sept. 20 last year while India denied welcoming it. Enditem