Kathmandu, July 6
Bhagat Singh Kosiyari, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader, confirmed on Wednesday that he had indeed met Nepal’s former king Gyanendra Shah during his previous visit to Nepal.
Kosiyari is in Nepal to take part in the first meeting of Eminent Persons’ Group comprising intellectuals from Nepal and India. Kosiyari said he has no plans to visit the former king this time around.
During an interview with BBC Nepali Service, Kosiyari said: I don’t think meeting former king is a crime. He is a citizen of this country. If someone wants to meet me, then it’s my duty to meet that person.”
He said; I meet leaders across the political spectrum, including Congress and communist leaders, during my visits to Nepal.
Then he questioned: Does your constitution bar anyone from India from calling on the (former) king? If that is the case, I won’t meet him (again). Kosiyari reitereated that he has no plans to meet the ex-king this time.
“During the meeting, I told the former king: You have relations in India. You are the link (uniting the two countries) and should remain that way. That is what I said to the king,” Kosiyari said.
The BJP leader said India is not dissatisfied with Nepal for embracing secularism.
He said: Hindus are a majority in Nepal. Indian leaders are not committing a crime by speaking about Hindus in Nepal.
